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UP    FROM   SLAVERY 


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UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

AN    AUTOBIOGRAPHY 

BY 
BOOKER   T.  WASHINGTON 


NEW   YORK 

DOUBLEDAY,    PAGE   &    CO. 

1 90 1 


Copyright,    1900,    1901, 
By  BOOKER  T.   WASHINGTON. 


Norwood  Press 

J.  S.  Cushing  &  Co. — Berwick  &  Smith 

Norwood,  Mass.,   U.S.A. 


This  volume 
MRS.   MAR'.. 
An 
MR 
Whose  pat n 

ssful 


PREFACE 

This  volume  is  the  outgrowth  of  a  series  of 
articles,  dealing  with  incidents  in  my  life,  which 
were  published  consecutively  in  the  Outlook.  While 
they  were  appearing  in  that  magazine  I  was  con- 
stantly surprised  at  the  number  of  requests  which 
came  to  me  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  asking 
that  the  articles  be  permanently  preserved  in  book 
form.  I  am  most  grateful  to  the  Outlook  for  per- 
mission to  gratify  these  requests. 

I  have  tried  to  tell  a  simple,  straightforward  story, 
with  no  attempt  at  embellishment.  My  regret  is 
that  what  I  have  attempted  to  do  has  been  done  so 
imperfectly.  The  greater  part  of  my  time  and 
strength  is  required  for  the  executive  work  con- 
nected with  the  Tuskegee  Normal  and  Industrial 
Institute,  and  in  securing  the  money  necessary  for 
the  support  of  the  institution.  Much  of  what  I 
have  said  has  been  written  on  board  trains,  or  at 
hotels  or  railroad  stations  while  I  have  been  waiting 


viii  PREFACE 

for  trains,  or  during  the  moments  that  I  could  spare 
from  my  work  while  at  Tuskegee.  Without  the 
painstaking  and  generous  assistance  of  Mr.  Max 
Bennett  Thrasher  I  could  not  have  succeeded  in 
any  satisfactory  degree. 


CONTENTS 


Chapter 

I.  A  Slave  among  Slaves 

II.  Boyhood  Days 

III.  The  Struggle  for  an  Education 

IV.  Helping  Others 
V.  The  Reconstruction  Period 

VI.  Black  Race  and  Red  Race 

VII.  Early  Days  at  Tuskegee  . 

VIII.  Teaching  School  in  a  Stable  and  a  Hen-House 

IX.  Anxious  Days  and  Sleepless  Nights 

X.  A  Harder  Task  than  making  Bricks  without  Straw 

XI.  Making  their  Beds  before  they  could  lie  on  them 

XII.  Raising  Money       ..... 

XIII.  Two  Thousand  Miles  for  a  Five  Minute  Speech 

XIV.  The  Atlanta  Exposition  Address 

XV.  The  Secret  of  Success  in  Public  Speaking 

XVI.  Europe  ...... 

XVII.  Last  Words  ...... 


Page 
I 

23 
42 

63 

8c 

92 

106 

118 

133 

148 
163 
177 
196 
217 
238 
267 
293 


UP    FROM    SLAVERY 


CHAPTER    I 


A    SLAVE    AMONG    SLAVES 


I  WAS  born  a  slave  on  a  plantation  in  Franklin 
County,  Virginia.  I  am  not  quite  sure  of  the 
exact  place  or  exact  date  of  my  birth,  but  at 
any  rate  I  suspect  I  must  have  been  born  somewhere 
and  at  some  time.  As  nearly  as  I  have  been  able 
to  learn,  I  was  born  near  a  cross-roads  post-office 
called  Hale's  Ford,  and  the  year  was  1858  or  1859. 
I  do  not  know  the  month  or  the  day.  The  earliest 
impressions  I  can  now  recall  are  of  the  plantation 
and  the  slave  quarters  —  the  latter  being  the  part  of 
the  plantation  where  the  slaves  had  their  cabins. 

My  life  had  its  beginning  in  the  midst  of  the 
most  miserable,  desolate,  and  discouraging  sur- 
roundings. This  was  so,  however,  not  because  my 
owners  were  especially  cruel,  for  they  were  not,  as 
compared  with  many  others.      I  was  born  in  a  typi- 


2  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

cal  log  cabin,  about  fourteen  by  sixteen  feet  square. 
In  this  cabin  I  lived  with  my  mother  and  a  brother 
and  sister  till  after  the  Civil  War,  when  we  were  all 
declared  free. 

Of  my  ancestry  I  know  almost  nothing.  In  the 
slave  quarters,  and  even  later,  I  heard  whispered  con- 
versations among  the  coloured  people  of  the  tortures 
which  the  slaves,  including,  no  doubt,  my  ancestors 
on  my  mother's  side,  suffered  in  the  middle  passage 
of  the  slave  ship  while  being  conveyed  from  Africa 
to  America.  I  have  been  unsuccessful  in  securing 
any  information  that  would  throw  any  accurate  light 
upon  the  history  of  my  family  beyond  my  mother. 
She,  I  remember,  had  a  half-brother  and  a  half- 
sister.  In  the  days  of  slavery  not  very  much  atten- 
tion was  given  to  family  history  and  family  records 
—  that  is,  black  family  records.  My  mother,  I  sup- 
pose, attracted  the  attention  of  a  purchaser  who  was 
afterward  my  owner  and  hers.  Her  addition  to  the 
slave  family  attracted  about  as  much  attention  as 
the  purchase  of  a  new  horse  or  cow.  Of  my  father 
I  know  even  less  than  of  my  mother.  I  do  not 
even  know  his  name.  I  have  heard  reports  to  the 
effect  that  he  was  a  white  man  who  lived  on  one  of 
the  near-by  plantations.  Whoever  he  was,  I  never 
heard  of  his  taking  the  least  interest  in  me  or  pro-  j3Rf* 
viding  in  any  way  for  my  rearing.      But  I   do  not  {\jglj 


A   SLAVE    AMONG   SLAVES  3 

find  especial  fault  with  him.  He  was  simply 
another  unfortunate  victim  of  the  institution  which 
the  Nation  unhappily  had  engrafted  upon  it  at  that 
time. 

The  cabin  was  not  only  our  living-place,  but  was 
also  used  as  the  kitchen  for  the  plantation.  My 
mother  was  the  plantation  cook.  The  cabin  was 
without  glass  windows  ;  it  had  only  openings  in  the 
side  which  let  in  the  light,  and  also  the  cold,  chilly 
air  of  winter.  There  was  a  door  to  the  cabin  — 
that  is,  something  that  was  called  a  door — but  the 
uncertain  hinges  by  which  it  was  hung,  and  the 
large  cracks  in  it,  to  say  nothing  of  the  fact  that  it 
was  too  small,  made  the  room  a  very  uncomfortable 
one.  In  addition  to  these  openings  there  was,  in  the 
lower  right-hand  corner  of  the  room,  the  "  cat-hole," 
—  a  contrivance  which  almost  every  mansion  or 
cabin  in  Virginia  possessed  during  the  ante-bellum 
period.  The  "  cat-hole "  was  a  square  opening, 
about  seven  by  eight  inches,  provided  for  the  pur- 
pose of  letting  the  cat  pass  in  and  out  of  the  house 
at  will  during  the  night.  In  the  case  of  our  par- 
ticular cabin  I  could  never  understand  the  necessity 
for  this  convenience,  since  there  were  at  least  a  half- 
dozen  other  places  in  the  cabin  that  would  have 
accommodated  the  cats.  There  was  no  wooden  floor 
in  our  cabin,  the  naked  earth  being  used  as  a  floor. 


4  UP    FROM    SLAVERY 

In  the  centre  of  the  earthen  floor  there  was  a  large, 
deep  opening  covered  with  boards,  which  was  used 
as  a  place  in  which  to  store  sweet  potatoes  during 
the  winter.  An  impression  of  this  potato-hole  is 
very  distinctly  engraved  upon  my  memory,  because 
I  recall  that  during  the  process  of  putting  the 
potatoes  in  or  taking  them  out  I  would  often  come 
into  possession  of  one  or  two,  which  I  roasted  and 
thoroughly  enjoyed.  There  was  no  cooking-stove 
on  our  plantation,  and  all  the  cooking  for  the 
whites  and  slaves  my  mother  had  to  do  over  an 
open  fireplace,  mostly  in  pots  and  "  skillets." 
While  the  poorly  built  cabin  caused  us  to  suffer 
with  cold  in  the  winter,  the  heat  from  the  open  fire- 
place in  summer  was  equally  trying. 

The  early  years  of  my  life,  which  were  spent  in 
the  little  cabin,  were  not  very  different  from  those 
of  thousands  of  other  slaves.  My  mother,  of 
course,  had  little  time  in  which  to  give  attention  to 
the  training  of  her  children  during  the  day.  She 
snatched  a  few  moments  for  our  care  in  the  early 
morning  before  her  work  began,  and  at  night  after 
the  day's  work  was  done.  One  of  my  earliest 
recollections  is  that  of  my  mother  cooking  a  chicken 
late  at  night,  and  awakening  her  children  for  the 
purpose  of  feeding  them.  How  or  where  she  got 
it  I  do  not  know.     I  presume,  however,  it  was  pro- 


A   SLAVE   AMONG   SLAVES  5 

cured  from  our  owner's  farm.  Some  people  may 
call  this  theft.  If  such  a  thing  were  to  happen 
now,  I  should  condemn  it  as  theft  myself.  But 
taking  place  at  the  time  it  did,  and  for  the  reason 
that  it  did,  no  one  could  ever  make  me  believe  that 
my  mother  was  guilty  of  thieving.  She  was  simply 
a  victim  of  the  system  of  slavery.  I  cannot  re- 
member having  slept  in  a  bed  until  after  our  family 
was  declared  free  by  the  Emancipation  Proclama- 
tion. Three  children  —  John,  my  older  brother, 
Amanda,  my  sister,  and  myself —  had  a  pallet  on 
the  dirt  floor,  or,  to  be  more  correct,  we  slept  in 
and  on  a  bundle  of  filthy  rags  laid  upon  the  dirt 
floor. 

I  was  asked  not  long  ago  to  tell  something  about 
the  sports  and  pastimes  that  I  engaged  in  during 
my  youth.  Until  that  question  was  asked  it  had 
never  occurred  to  me  that  there  was  no  period  of 
my  life  that  was  devoted  to  play.  From  the  time 
that  I  can  remember  anything,  almost  every  day 
of  my  life  has  been  occupied  in  some  kind  of 
labour;  though  I  think  I  would  now  be  a  more  use- 
ful man  if  I  had  had  time  for  sports.  During  the 
period  that  I  spent  in  slavery  I  was  not  large 
enough  to  be  of  much  service,  still  I  was  occupied 
most  of  the  time  in  cleaning  the  yards,  carrying 
water  to  the  men  in  the  fields,  or  going  to  the  mill, 


6  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

to  which  I  used  to  take  the  corn,  once  a  week,  to 
be  ground.  The  mill  was  about  three  miles  from 
the  plantation.  This  work  I  always  dreaded.  The 
heavy  bag  of  corn  would  be  thrown  across  the  back 
of  the  horse,  and  the  corn  divided  about  evenly  on 
each  side ;  but  in  some  way,  almost  without  excep- 
tion, on  these  trips,  the  corn  would  so  shift  as  to 
become  unbalanced  and  would  fall  off  the  horse, 
and  often  I  would  fall  with  it.  As  I  was  not 
strong  enough  to  reload  the  corn  upon  the  horse,  I 
would  have  to  wait,  sometimes  for  many  hours,  till 
a  chance  passer-by  came  along  who  would  help  me 
out  of  my  trouble.  The  hours  while  waiting  for 
some  one  were  usually  spent  in  crying.  The  time 
consumed  in  this  way  made  me  late  in  reaching  the 
mill,  and  by  the  time  I  got  my  corn  ground  and 
reached  home  it  would  be  far  into  the  night.  The 
road  was  a  lonely  one,  and  often  led  through  dense 
forests.  I  was  always  frightened.  The  woods 
were  said  to  be  full  of  soldiers  who  had  deserted 
from  the  army,  and  I  had  been  told  that  the  first 
thing  a  deserter  did  to  a  Negro  boy  when  he  found 
him  alone  was  to  cut  off  his  ears.  Besides,  when  I 
was  late  in  getting  home  I  knew  I  would  always 
get  a  severe  scolding  or  a  flogging. 

I  had  no  schooling  whatever  while   I  was  a  slave, 
though  I  remember  on  several  occasions  I  went  as 


A    SLAVE   AMONG    SLAVES  7 

far  as  the  schoolhouse  door  with  one  of  my  young 
mistresses  to  carry  her  books.  The  picture  of 
several  dozen  boys  and  girls  in  a  schoolroom  en- 
gaged in  study  made  a  deep  impression  upon  me, 
and  I  had  the  feeling  that  to  get  into  a  school- 
house  and  study  in  this  way  would  be  about  the 
same  as  getting  into  paradise. 

So  far  as  I  can  now  recall,  the  first  knowledge 
that  I  got  of  the  fact  that  we  were  slaves,  and  that 
freedom  of  the  slaves  was  being  discussed,  was  early 
one  morning  before  day,  when  I  was  awakened  by 
my  mother  kneeling  over  her  children  and  fer- 
vently praying  that  Lincoln  and  his  armies  might 
be  successful,  and  that  one  day  she  and  her  chil- 
dren might  be  free.  In  this  connection  I  have 
never  been  able  to  understand  how  the  slaves 
throughout  the  South,  completely  ignorant  as  were 
the  masses  so  far  as  books  or  newspapers  were  con- 
cerned, were  able  to  keep  themselves  so  accurately 
and  completely  informed  about  the  great  National 
questions  that  were  agitating  the  country.  From 
the  time  that  Garrison,  Lovejoy,  and  others  began 
to  agitate  for  freedom,  the  slaves  throughout  the 
South  kept  in  close  touch  with  the  progress  of  the 
movement.  Though  I  was  a  mere  child  during 
the  preparation  for  the  Civil  War  and  during  the 
war    itself,    I    now    recall     the     many    late-at-night 


8  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

whispered  discussions  that  I  heard  my  mother  and 
the  other  slaves  on  the  plantation  indulge  in. 
These  discussions  showed  that  they  understood  the 
situation,  and  that  they  kept  themselves  informed 
of  events  by  what  was  termed  the  "grape-vine" 
telegraph. 

During  the  campaign  when  Lincoln  was  first  a 
candidate  for  the  Presidency,  the  slaves  on  our 
far-off  plantation,  miles  from  any  railroad  or  large  city 
or  daily  newspaper,  knew  what  the  issues  involved 
were.  When  war  was  begun  between  the  North 
and  the  South,  every  slave  on  our  plantation  felt 
and  knew  that,  though  other  issues  were  discussed, 
the  primal  one  was  that  of  slavery.  Even  the  most 
ignorant  members  of  my  race  on  the  remote  planta- 
tions felt  in  their  hearts,  with  a  certainty  that  admitted 
of  no  doubt,  that  the  freedom  of  the  slaves  would  be 
the  one  great  result  of  the  war,  if  the  Northern  armies 
conquered.  Every  success  of  the  Federal  armies  and 
every  defeat  of  the  Confederate  forces  was  watched 
with  the  keenest  and  most  intense  interest.  Often 
the  slaves  got  knowledge  of  the  results  of  great  battles 
before  the  white  people  received  it.  This  news  was 
usually  gotten  from  the  coloured  man  who  was  sent 
to  the  post-office  for  the  mail.  In  our  case  the 
post-office  was  about  three  miles  from  the  planta- 
tion, and  the  mail  came  once  or  twice  a  week.    The 


A   SLAVE    AMONG    SLAVES  9 

man  who  was  sent  to  the  office  would  linger  about 
the  place  long  enough  to  get  the  drift  of  the  con- 
versation from  the  group  of  white  people  who 
naturally  congregated  there,  after  receiving  their 
mail,  to  discuss  the  latest  news.  The  mail-carrier 
on  his  way  back  to  our  master's  house  would  as 
naturally  retail  the  news  that  he  had  secured  among 
the  slaves,  and  in  this  way  they  often  heard  of  im- 
portant events  before  the  white  people  at  the  "  big 
house,"  as  the  master's  house  was  called. 

I  cannot  remember  a  single  instance  during  my 
childhood  or  early  boyhood  when  our  entire  family 
sat  down  to  the  table  together,  and  God's  blessing 
was  asked,  and  the  family  ate  a  meal  in  a  civilized 
manner.  On  the  plantation  in  Virginia,  and  even 
later,  meals  were  gotten  by  the  children  very  much 
as  dumb  animals  get  theirs.  It  was  a  piece  of  bread 
here  and  a  scrap  of  meat  there.  It  was  a  cup  of 
milk  at  one  time  and  some  potatoes  at  another. 
Sometimes  a  portion  of  our  family  would  eat  out  of 
the  skillet  or  pot,  while  some  one  else  would  eat 
from  a  tin  plate  held  on  the  knees,  and  often  using 
nothing  but  the  hands  with  which  to  hold  the  food. 
When  I  had  grown  to  sufficient  size,  I  was  required 
to  go  to  the  "  big  house  "  at  meal-times  to  fan  the 
flies  from  the  table  by  means  of  a  large  set  of  paper 
fans  operated  by  a  pulley.      Naturally  much  of  the 


io  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

conversation  of  the  white  people  turned  upon  the 
subject  of  freedom  and  the  war,  and  I  absorbed  a 
good  deal  of  it.  I  remember  that  at  one  time  I  saw 
two  of  my  young  mistresses  and  some  lady  visitors 
eating  ginger-cakes,  in  the  yard.  At  that  time  those 
cakes  seemed  to  me  to  be  absolutely  the  most  tempt- 
ing and  desirable  things  that  I  had  ever  seen ;  and  I 
then  and  there  resolved  that,  if  I  ever  got  free,  the 
height  of  my  ambition  would  be  reached  if  I  could 
get  to  the  point  where  I  could  secure  and  eat 
ginger-cakes  in  the  way  that  I  saw  those  ladies 
doing. 

Of  course  as  the  war  was  prolonged  the  white 
people,  in  many  cases,  often  found  it  difficult  to 
secure  food  for  themselves.  I  think  the  slaves  felt 
the  deprivation  less  than  the  whites,  because  the 
usual  diet  for  the  slaves  was  corn  bread  and  pork, 
and  these  could  be  raised  on  the  plantation  ;  but 
coffee,  tea,  sugar,  and  other  articles  which  the 
whites  had  been  accustomed  to  use  could  not  be 
raised  on  the  plantation,  and  the  conditions  brought 
about  by  the  war  frequently  made  it  impossible  to 
secure  these  things.  The  whites  were  often  in  great 
straits.  Parched  corn  was  used  for  coffee,  and  a 
kind  of  black  molasses  was  used  instead  of  sugar. 
Many  times  nothing  was  used  to  sweeten  the  so- 
called  tea  and  coffee. 


A   SLAVE   AMONG   SLAVES  n 

The  first  pair  of  shoes  that  I  recall  wearing  were 
wooden  ones.  They  had  rough  leather  on  the  top, 
but  the  bottoms,  which  were  about  an  inch  thick, 
were  of  wood.  When  I  walked  they  made  a  fearful 
noise,  and  besides  this  they  were  very  inconvenient, 
since  there  was  no  yielding  to  the  natural  pressure 
of  the  foot.  In  wearing  them  one  presented  an 
exceedingly  awkward  appearance.  The  most  trying 
ordeal  that  I  was  forced  to  endure  as  a  slave  boy, 
however,  was  the  wearing  of  a  flax  shirt.  In  the 
portion  of  Virginia  where  I  lived  it  was  common 
to  use  flax  as  part  of  the  clothing  for  the  slaves. 
That  part  of  the  flax  from  which  our  clothing  was 
made  was  largely  the  refuse,  which  of  course  was 
the  cheapest  and  roughest  part.  I  can  scarcely 
imagine  any  torture,  except,  perhaps,  the  pulling  of 
a  tooth,  that  is  equal  to  that  caused  by  putting  on 
a  new  flax  shirt  for  the  first  time.  It  is  almost 
equal  to  the  feeling  that  one  would  experience  if 
he  had  a  dozen  or  more  chestnut  burrs,  or  a  hundred 
small  pin-points,  in  contact  with  his  flesh.  Even 
to  this  day  I  can  recall  accurately  the  tortures  that  I 
underwent  when  putting  on  one  of  these  garments. 
The  fact  that  my  flesh  was  soft  and  tender  added  to 
the  pain.  But  I  had  no  choice.  I  had  to  wear  the 
flax  shirt  or  none;  and  had  it  been  left  to  me  to 
choose,  I  should  have  chosen  to  wear  no  covering. 


12  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

In  connection  with  the  flax  shirt,  my  brother  John, 
who  is  several  years  older  than  I  am,  performed  one 
of  the  most  generous  acts  that  I  ever  heard  of  one 
slave  relative  doing  for  another.  On  several  occa- 
sions when  I  was  being  forced  to  wear  a  new  flax  shirt, 
he  generously  agreed  to  put  it  on  in  my  stead  and 
wear  it  for  several  days,  till  it  was  "  broken  in." 
Until  I  had  grown  to  be  quite  a  youth  this  single 
garment  was  all  that  I  wore. 

One  may  get  the  idea,  from  what  I  have  said,  that 
there  was  bitter  feeling  toward  the  white  people  on  the 
part  of  my  race,  because  of  the  fact  that  most  of  the 
white  population  was  away  fighting  in  a  war  which 
would  result  in  keeping  the  Negro  in  slavery  if  the 
South  was  successful.  In  the  case  of  the  slaves  on 
our  place  this  was  not  true,  and  it  was  not  true  of 
any  large  portion  of  the  slave  population  in  the 
South  where  the  Negro  was  treated  with  anything 
like  decency.  During  the  Civil  War  one  of  my 
young  masters  was  killed,  and  two  were  severely 
wounded.  I  recall  the  feeling  of  sorrow  which 
existed  among  the  slaves  when  they  heard  of  the 
death  of  "  Mars'  Billy."  It  was  no  sham  sorrow, 
but  real.  Some  of  the  slaves  had  nursed  "  Mars' 
Billy  "  ;  others  had  played  with  him  when  he  was  a 
child.  "  Mars'  Billy "  had  begged  for  mercy  in 
the  case  of  others  when  the  overseer  or  master  was 


A    SLAVE    AMONG    SLAVES  13 

thrashing  them.  The  sorrow  in  the  slave  quarter 
was  only  second  to  that  in  the  "  big  house."  When 
the  two  young  masters  were  brought  home  wounded, 
the  sympathy  of  the  slaves  was  shown  in  many 
ways.  They  were  just  as  anxious  to  assist  in  the 
nursing  as  the  family  relatives  of  the  wounded. 
Some  of  the  slaves  would  even  beg  for  the  privilege 
of  sitting  up  at  night  to  nurse  their  wounded  masters. 
This  tenderness  and  sympathy  on  the  part  of  those 
held  in  bondage  was  a  result  of  their  kindly  and 
generous  nature.  In  order  to  defend  and  protect 
the  women  and  children  who  were  left  on  the  plan- 
tations when  the  white  males  went  to  war,  the  slaves 
would  have  laid  down  their  lives.  The  slave  who 
was  selected  to  sleep  in  the  "  big  house  "  during  the 
absence  of  the  males  was  considered  to  have  the  place 
of  honour.  Any  one  attempting  to  harm  "  young 
Mistress "  or  "  old  Mistress "  during  the  night 
would  have  had  to  cross  the  dead  body  of  the  slave 
to  do  so.  I  do  not  know  how  many  have  noticed  it, 
but  I  think  that  it  will  be  found  to  be  true  that  there 
are  few  instances,  either  in  slavery  or  freedom,  in 
which  a  member  of  my  race  has  been  known  to 
betray  a  specific  trust. 

As  a  rule,  not  only  did  the  members  of  my  race 
entertain  no  feelings  of  bitterness  against  the  whites 
before    and    during   the   war,  but    there   are    many 


i4  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

instances  of  Negroes  tenderly  caring  for  their 
former  masters  and  mistresses  who  for  some  reason 
have  become  poor  and  dependent  since  the  war.  I 
know  of  instances  where  the  former  masters  of 
slaves  have  for  years  been  supplied  with  money  by 
their  former  slaves  to  keep  them  from  suffering.  I 
have  known  of  still  other  cases  in  which  the  former 
slaves  have  assisted  in  the  education  of  the  descend- 
ants of  their  former  owners.  I  know  of  a  case  on 
a  large  plantation  in  the  South  in  which  a  young 
white  man,  the  son  of  the  former  owner  of  the  estate, 
has  become  so  reduced  in  purse  and  self-control  by 
reason  of  drink  that  he  is  a  pitiable  creature  ;  and 
yet,  notwithstanding  the  poverty  of  the  coloured 
people  themselves  on  this  plantation,  they  have  for 
years  supplied  this  young  white  man  with  the 
necessities  of  life.  One  sends  him  a  little  coffee 
or  sugar,  another  a  little  meat,  and  so  on.  Nothing 
that  the  coloured  people  possess  is  too  good  for  the 
son  of  "  old  Mars'  Tom,"  who  will  perhaps  never 
be  permitted  to  suffer  while  any  remain  on  the 
place  who  knew  directly  or  indirectly  of  "  old 
Mars'  Tom." 

I  have  said  that  there  are  few  instances  of  a 
member  of  my  race  betraying  a  specific  trust. 
One  of  the  best  illustrations  of  this  which  I 
know  of  is  in  the  case  of  an  ex-slave  from  Virginia 


A    SLAVE    AMONG    SLAVES  15 

whom  I  met  not  long  ago  in  a  little  town  in  the 
state  of  Ohio.  I  found  that  this  man  had  made  a 
contract  with  his  master,  two  or  three  years  previ- 
ous to  the  Emancipation  Proclamation,  to  the  effect 
that  the  slave  was  to  be  permitted  to  buy  himself, 
by  paying  so  much  per  year  for  his  body;  and  while 
he  was  paying  for  himself,  he  was  to  be  permitted 
to  labour  where  and  for  whom  he  pleased.  Finding 
that  he  could  secure  better  wages  in  Ohio,  he  went 
there.  When  freedom  came,  he  was  still  in  debt  to 
his  master  some  three  hundred  dollars.  Notwith- 
standing that  the  Emancipation  Proclamation  freed 
him  from  any  obligation  to  his  master,  this  black 
man  walked  the  greater  portion  of  the  distance  back 
to  where  his  old  master  lived  in  Virginia,  and  placed 
the  last  dollar,  with  interest,  in  his  hands.  In  talk- 
ing to  me  about  this,  the  man  told  me  that  he 
knew  that  he  did  not  have  to  pay  the  debt,  but 
that  he  had  given  his  word  to  his  master,  and  his 
word  he  had  never  broken.  He  felt  that  he  could 
not  enjoy  his  freedom  till  he  had  fulfilled  his 
promise. 

From  some  things  that  I  have  said  one  may  get 
the  idea  that  some  of  the  slaves  did  not  want  free- 
dom. This  is  not  true.  I  ha»ve  never  seen  one 
who  did  not  want  to  be  free,  or  one  who  would 
return  to  slavery. 


1 6  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

I  pity  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart  any  nation 
or  body  of  people  that  is  so  unfortunate  as  to  get 
entangled  in  the  net  of  slavery.  I  have  long  since 
ceased  to  cherish  any  spirit  of  bitterness  against  the 
Southern  white  people  on  account  of  the  enslavement 
of  my  race.  No  one  section  of  our  country,  was 
wholly  responsible  for  its  introduction,  and,  besides, 
it  was  recognized  and  protected  for  years  by  the 
General  Government.  Having  once  got  its  tenta- 
cles fastened  on  to  the  economic  and  social  life  of 
the  Republic,  it  was  no  easy  matter  for  the  country 
to  relieve  itself  of  the  institution.  Then,  when  we 
rid  ourselves  of  prejudice,  or  racial  feeling,  and  look 
facts  in  the  face,  we  must  acknowledge  that,  not- 
withstanding the  cruelty  and  moral  wrong  of  slavery, 
the  ten  million  Negroes  inhabiting  this  country,  who 
themselves  or  whose  ancestors  went  through  the 
school  of  American  slavery,  are  in  a  stronger  and 
more  hopeful  condition,  materially,  intellectually, 
morally,  and  religiously,  than  is  true  of  an  equal 
number  of  black  people  in  any  other  portion  of  the 
globe.  This  is  so  to  such  an  extent  that  Negroes 
in  this  country,  who  themselves  or  whose  forefathers 
went  through  the  school  of  slavery,  are  constantly 
returning  to  Africa  as  missionaries  to  enlighten 
those  who  remained  in  the  fatherland.  This  I  say, 
not  to  justify  slavery — on  the  other  hand,  I  con- 


A-  SLAVE   AMONG   SLAVES  17 

demn  it  as  an  institution,  as  we  all  know  that  in 
America  it  was  established  for  selfish  and  financial 
reasons,  and  not  from  a  missionary  motive  —  but  to 
call  attention  to  a  fact,  and  to  show  how  Providence 
so  often  uses  men  and  institutions  to  accomplish  a 
purpose.  When  persons  ask  me  in  these  days  how, 
in  the  midst  of  what  sometimes  seem  hopelessly 
discouraging  conditions,  I  can  have  such  faith  in 
the  future  of  my  race  in  this  country,  I  remind 
them  of  the  wilderness  through  which  and  out  of 
which,  a  good  Providence  has  already  led  us. 

Ever  since  I  have  been  old  enough  to  think  for 
myself,  I  have  entertained  the  idea  that,  notwith- 
standing the  cruel  wrongs  inflicted  upon  us,  the 
black  man  got  nearly  as  much  out  of  slavery  as 
the  white  man  did.  The  hurtful  influences  of  the 
institution  were  not  by  any  means  confined  to  the 
Negro.  This  was  fully  illustrated  by  the  life  upon 
our  own  plantation.  The  whole  machinery  of 
slavery  was  so  constructed  as  to  cause  labour,  as  a 
rule,  to  be  looked  upon  as  a  badge  of  degradation, 
of  inferiority.  Hence  labour  was  something  that 
both  races  on  the  slave  plantation  sought  to  escape. 
The  slave  svstem  on  our  place,  in  a  large  measure, 
took  the  spirit  of  self-reliance  and  self-help  out  of 
the  white  people.  My  old  master  had  many  boys 
and  girls,  but  not  one,  so  far  as  I  know,  ever  mas- 


1 8  UP   FROM    SLAVERY    - 

tered  a  single  trade  or  special  line  of  productive 
industry.  The  girls  were  not  taught  to  cook,  sew, 
or  to  take  care  of  the  house.  All  of  this  was  left 
to  the  slaves.  The  slaves,  of  course,  had  little  per- 
sonal interest  in  the  life  of  the  plantation,  and  their 
ignorance  prevented  them  from  learning  how  to  do 
things  in  the  most  improved  and  thorough  manner. 
As  a  result  of  the  system,  fences  were  out  of  repair, 
gates  were  hanging  half  off  the  hinges,  doors 
creaked,  window-panes  were  out,  plastering  had 
fallen  but  was  not  replaced,  weeds  grew  in  the 
yard.  As  a  rule,  there  was  food  for  whites  and 
blacks,  but  inside  the  house,  and  on  the  dining- 
room  table,  there  was  wanting  that  delicacy  and 
refinement  of  touch  and  finish  which  can  make  a 
home  the  most  convenient,  comfortable,  and  attrac- 
tive place  in  the  world.  Withal  there  was  a  waste 
of  food  and  other  materials  which  was  sad.  When 
freedom  came,  the  slaves  were  almost  as  well  fitted 
to  begin  life  anew  as  the  master,  except  in  the 
matter  of  book-learning  and  ownership  of  property. 
The  slave  owner  and  his  sons  had  mastered  no 
special  industry.  They  unconsciously  had  imbibed 
the  feeling  that  manual  labour  was  not  the  proper 
thing  for  them.  On  the  other  hand,  the  slaves, 
in  many  cases,  had  mastered  some  handicraft,  and 
none  were  ashamed,  and  few  unwilling,  to  labour. 


A    SLAVE    AMONG   SLAVES  19 

Finally  the  war  closed,  and  the  day  of  freedom 
came.  It  was  a  momentous  and  eventful  day  to 
all  upon  our  plantation.  We  had  been  expecting 
it.  Freedom  was  in  the  air,  and  had  been  for 
months.  Deserting  soldiers  returning  to  their 
homes  were  to  be  seen  every  day.  Others  who 
had  been  discharged,  or  whose  regiments  had  been 
paroled,  were  constantly  passing  near  our  place. 
The  "grape-vine  telegraph"  was  kept  busy  night 
and  day.  The  news  and  mutterings  of  great  events 
were  swiftly  carried  from  one  plantation  to  another. 
In  the  fear  of  "  Yankee  "  invasions,  the  silverware 
and  other  valuables  were  taken  from  the  "  big 
house,"  buried  in  the  woods,  and  guarded  by 
trusted  slaves.  Woe  be  to  any  one  who  would 
have  attempted  to  disturb  the  buried  treasure. 
The  slaves  would  give  the  Yankee  soldiers  food, 
drink,  clothing  —  anything  but  that  which  had  been 
specifically  intrusted  to  their  care  and  honour.  As 
the  great  day  drew  nearer,  there  was  more  singing 
in  the  slave  quarters  than  usual.  It  was  bolder, 
had  more  ring,  and  lasted  later  into  the  night. 
Most  of  the  verses  of  the  plantation  songs  had 
some  reference  to  freedom.  True,  they  had  sung 
those  same  verses  before,  but  they  had  been  careful 
to  explain  that  the  "  freedom "  in  these  songs 
referred  to  the  next  world,  and  had  no  connection 


20  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

with  life  in  this  world.  Now  they  gradually  threw 
off  the  mask,  and  were  not  afraid  to  let  it  be  known 
that  the  "freedom"  in  their  songs  meant  freedom 
of  the  body  in  this  world.  The  night  before  the 
eventful  day,  word  was  sent  to  the  slave  quarters 
to  the  effect  that  something  unusual  was  going  to 
take  place  at  the  "  big  house "  the  next  morning. 
There  was  little,  if  any,  sleep  that  night.  All  was 
excitement  and  expectancy.  Early  the  next  morn- 
ing word  was  sent  to  all  the  slaves,  old  and  young, 
to  gather  at  the  house.  In  company  with  my 
mother,  brother,  and  sister,  and  a  large  number  of 
other  slaves,  I  went  to  the  master's  house.  All 
of  our  master's  family  were  either  standing  or 
seated  on  the  veranda  of  the  house,  where  they 
could  see  what  was  to  take  place  and  hear  what 
was  said.  There  was  a  feeling  of  deep  interest,  or 
perhaps  sadness,  on  their  faces,  but  not  bitterness. 
As  I  now  recall  the  impression  they  made  upon  me, 
they  did  not  at  the  moment  seem  to  be  sad  because 
of  the  loss  of  property,  but  rather  because  of  part- 
ing with  those  whom  they  had  reared  and  who  were 
in  many  ways  very  close  to  them.  The  most  dis- 
tinct thing  that  I  now  recall  in  connection  with  the 
scene  was  that  some  man  who  seemed  to  be  a 
stranger  (a  United  States  officer,  I  presume)  made 
a  little  speech  and  then  read  a  rather  long  paper  — 


A    SLAVE    AMONG    SLAVES  21 

the  Emancipation  Proclamation,  I  think.  After 
the  reading  we  were  told  that  we  were  all  free,  and 
could  go  when  and  where  we  pleased.  My  mother, 
who  was  standing  by  my  side,  leaned  over  and 
kissed  her  children,  while  tears  of  joy  ran  down 
her  cheeks.  She  explained  to  us  what  it  all  meant, 
that  this  was  the  day  for  which  she  had  been  so 
long  praying,  but  fearing  that  she  would  never 
live  to  see. 

For  some  minutes  there  was  great  rejoicing,  and 
thanksgiving,  and  wild  scenes  of  ecstasy.  But  there 
was  no  feeling  of  bitterness.  In  fact,  there  was  pity 
among  the  slaves  for  our  former  owners.  The  wild 
rejoicing  on  the  part  of  the  emancipated  coloured 
people  lasted  but  for  a  brief  period,  for  I  noticed 
that  by  the  time  they  returned  to  their  cabins  there 
was  a  change  in  their  feelings.  The  great  respon- 
sibility of  being  free,  of  having  charge  of  them- 
selves, of  having  to  think  and  plan  for  themselves 
and  their  children,  seemed  to  take  possession  of 
them.  It  was  very  much  like  suddenly  turning  a 
youth  of  ten  or  twelve  years  out  into  the  world  to 
provide  for  himself.  In  a  few  hours  the  great 
questions  with  which  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  had 
been  grappling  for  centuries  had  been  thrown  upon 
these  people  to  be  solved.  These  were  the  ques- 
tions of  a  home,  a  living,  the  rearing  of  children, 


22  UP    FROM    SLAVERY 

education,  citizenship,  and  the  establishment  and 
support  of  churches.  Was  it  any  wonder  that 
within  a  few  hours  the  wild  rejoicing  ceased  and  a 
feeling  of  deep  gloom  seemed  to  pervade  the  slave 
quarters  ?  To  some  it  seemed  that,  now  that  they 
were  in  actual  possession  of  it,  freedom  was  a  more 
serious  thing  than  they  had  expected  to  find  it. 
Some  of  the  slaves  were  seventy  or  eighty  years 
old ;  their  best  days  were  gone.  They  had  no 
strength  with  which  to  earn  a  living  in  a  strange 
place  and  among  strange  people,  even  if  they  had 
been  sure  where  to  find  a  new  place  of  abode.  To 
this  class  the  problem  seemed  especially  hard.  Be- 
sides, deep  down  in  their  hearts  there  was  a  strange 
and  peculiar  attachment  to  "  old  Marster "  and 
"  old  Missus,"  and  to  their  children,  which  they 
found  it  hard  to  think  of  breaking  off.  With  these 
they  had  spent  in  some  cases  nearly  a  half-century, 
and  it  was  no  light  thing  to  think  of  parting. 
Gradually,  one  by  one,  stealthily  at  first,  the  older 
slaves  began  to  wander  from  the  slave  quarters  back 
to  the  "  big  house  "  to  have  a  whispered  conversa- 
tion with  their  former  owners  as  to  the  future. 


CHAPTER   II 


BOYHOOD     DAYS 


AFTER  the  coming  of  freedom  there  were 
two  points  upon  which  practically  all  the 
people  on  our  place  were  agreed,  and  I  find 
that  this  was  generally  true  throughout  the  South  : 
that  they  must  change  their  names,  and  that  they 
must  leave  the  old  plantation  for  at  least  a  few  days 
or  weeks  in  order  that  they  might  really  feel  sure 
that  they  were  free. 

In  some  way  a  feeling  got  among  the  coloured 
people  that  it  was  far  from  proper  for  them  to  bear 
the  surname  of  their  former  owners,  and  a  great 
many  of  them  took  other  surnames.  This  was  one 
of  the  first  signs  of  freedom.  When  they  were 
slaves,  a  coloured  person  was  simply  called  "John" 
or  "  Susan."  There  was  seldom  occasion  for  more 
than  the  use  of  the  one  name.  If  "John"  or 
"  Susan "  belonged  to  a  white  man  by  the  name 
of  "Hatcher,"  sometimes  he  was  called  "John 
Hatcher,"  or  as  often  "  Hatcher's  John."  But  there 
was  a  feeling  that  "John  Hatcher"  or  "Hatcher's 

23 


24  UP    FROM    SLAVERY 

John  "  was  not  the  proper  title  by  which  to  denote 
a  freeman  ;  and  so  in  many  cases  cc  John  Hatcher  " 
was  changed  to  "  John  S.  Lincoln  "  or  "  John-  S. 
Sherman,"  the  initial  "  S  "  standing  for  no  name,  it 
being  simply  a  part  of  what  the  coloured  man 
proudly  called  his  "entitles." 

As  I  have  stated,  most  of  the  coloured  people  left 
the  old  plantation  for  a  short  while  at  least,  so  as  to 
be  sure,  it  seemed,  that  they  could  leave  and  try 
their  freedom  on  to  see  how  it  felt.  After  they 
had  remained  away  for  a  time,  many  of  the  older 
slaves,  especially,  returned  to  their  old  homes  and 
made  some  kind  of  contract  with  their  former 
owners  by  which  they  remained  on  the  estate. 

My  mother's  husband,  who  was  the  stepfather  of 
my  brother  John  and  myself,  did  not  belong  to  the 
same  owners  as  did  my  mother.  In  fact,  he  sel- 
dom came  to  our  plantation.  I  remember  seeing 
him  there  perhaps  once  a  year,  that  being  about 
Christmas  time.  In  some  way,  during  the  war,  by 
running  away  and  following  the  Federal  soldiers, 
it  seems,  he  found  his  way  into  the  new  state  of 
West  Virginia.  As  soon  as  freedom  was  declared, 
he  sent  for  my  mother  to  come  to  the  Kanawha 
Valley,  in  West  Virginia.  At  that  time  a  journey 
from  Virginia  over  the  mountains  to  West  Virginia 
was  rather  a  tedious   and   in  some  cases  a  painful 


BOYHOOD    DAYS  25 

undertaking.  What  little  clothing  and  few  house- 
hold goods  we  had  were  placed  in  a  cart,  but  the 
children  walked  the  greater  portion  of  the  distance, 
which  was  several  hundred  miles. 

I  do  not  think  any  of  us  ever  had  been  very  far 
from  the  plantation,  and  the  taking  of  a  long  jour- 
ney into  another  state  was  quite  an  event.  The 
parting  from  our  former  owners  and  the  members 
of  our  own  race  on  the  plantation  was  a  serious 
occasion.  From  the  time  of  our  parting  till  their 
death  we  kept  up  a  correspondence  with  the  older 
members  of  the  family,  and  in  later  years  we  have 
kept  in  touch  with  those  who  were  the  younger 
members.  We  were  several  weeks  making  the  trip, 
and  most  of  the  time  we  slept  in  the  open  air  and 
did  our  cooking  over  a  log  fire  out-of-doors.  One 
night  I  recall  that  we  camped  near  an  abandoned 
log  cabin,  and  my  mother  decided  to  build  a  fire  in 
that  for  cooking,  and  afterward  to  make  a  "pallet" 
on  the  floor  for  our  sleeping.  Just  as  the  fire  had 
gotten  well  started  a  large  black  snake  fully  a  yard 
and  a  half  long  dropped  down  the  chimney  and  ran 
out  on  the  floor.  Of  course  we  at  once  abandoned 
that  cabin.  Finally  we  reached  our  destination  —  a 
little  town  called  Maiden,  which  is  about  five  miles 
from  Charleston,  the  present  capital  of  the  state. 

At  that  time  salt-mining  was  the  great  industry  in 


26  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

that  part  of  West  Virginia,  and  the  little  town  of 
Maiden  was  right  in  the  midst  of  the  salt-furnaces. 
My  stepfather  had  already  secured  a  job  at  a  salt- 
furnace,  and  he  had  also  secured  a  little  cabin  for  us  to 
live  in.  Our  new  house  was  no  better  than  the  one 
we  had  left  on  the  old  plantation  in  Virginia.  In 
fact,  in  one  respect  it  was  worse.  Notwithstanding 
the  poor  condition  of  our  plantation  cabin,  we  were  at 
all  times  sure  of  pure  air.  Our  new  home  was  in  the 
midst  of  a  cluster  of  cabins  crowded  closely  together, 
and  as  there  were  no  sanitary  regulations,  the  filth 
about  the  cabins  was  often  intolerable.  Some  of  our 
neighbours  were  coloured  people,  and  some  were  the 
poorest  and  most  ignorant  and  degraded  white  peo- 
ple. It  was  a  motley  mixture.  Drinking,  gambling, 
quarrels,  fights,  and  shockingly  immoral  practices 
were  frequent.  All  who  lived  in  the  little  town  were 
in  one  way  or  another  connected  with  the  salt  busi- 
ness. Though  I  was  a  mere  child,  my  stepfather 
put  me  and  my  brother  at  work  in  one  of  the  fur- 
naces. Often  I  began  work  as  early  as  four  o'clock 
in  the  morning. 

The  first  thing  I  ever  learned  in  the  way  of  book 
knowledge  was  while  working  in  this  salt-furnace. 
Each  salt-packer  had  his  barrels  marked  with  a  cer- 
tain number.  The  number  allotted  to  my  step- 
father was  "18."     At  the  close  of  the  day's  work 


BOYHOOD    DAYS  27 

the  boss  of  the  packers  would  come  around  and  put 
"  18  "  on  each  of  our  barrels,  and  I  soon  learned  to 
recognize  that  figure  wherever  I  saw  it,  and  after  a 
while  got  to  the  point  where  I  could  make  that  fig- 
ure, though  I  knew  nothing  about  any  other  figures 
or  letters. 

From  the  time  that  I  can  remember  having  any 
thoughts  about  anything,  I  recall  that  I  had  an  in- 
tense longing  to  learn  to  read.  I  determined,  when 
quite  a  small  child,  that,  if  I  accomplished  nothing 
else  in  life,  I  would  in  some  way  get  enough  educa- 
tion to  enable  me  to  read  common  books  and  news- 
papers. Soon  after  we  got  settled  in  some  manner 
in  our  new  cabin  in  West  Virginia,  I  induced  my 
mother  to  get  hold  of  a  book  for  me.  How  or 
where  she  got  it  I  do  not  know,  but  in  some  way 
she  procured  an  old  copy  of  Webster's  "  blue-back  " 
spelling-book,  which  contained  the  alphabet,  followed 
by  such  meaningless  words  as  "ab,"  "  ba,"  "  ca," 
"  da."  I  began  at  once  to  devour  this  book,  and  I 
think  that  it  was  the  first  one  I  ever  had  in  my 
hands.  I  had  learned  from  somebody  that  the  way 
to  begin  to  read  was  to  learn  the  alphabet,  so  I  tried 
in  all  the  ways  I  could  think  of  to  learn  it,  —  all  of 
course  without  a  teacher,  for  I  could  find  no  one  to 
teach  me.  At  that  time  there  was  not  a  single  mem- 
ber of  my  race  anywhere   near  us  who    could   read, 


28  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

and  I  was  too  timid  to  approach  any  of  the  white 
people.  In  some  way,  within  a  few  weeks,  I  mas- 
tered the  greater  portion  of  the  alphabet.  In  all 
my  efforts  to  learn  to  read  my  mother  shared  fully 
my  ambition,  and  sympathized  with  me  and  aided 
me  in  every  way  that  she  could.  Though  she  was 
totally  ignorant,  so  far  as  mere  book  knowledge  was 
concerned,  she  had  high  ambitions  for  her  children, 
and  a  large  fund  of  good,  hard,  common  sense 
which  seemed  to  enable  her  to  meet  and  master 
every  situation.  If  I  have  done  anything  in  life 
worth  attention,  I  feel  sure  that  I  inherited  the  dis- 
position from  my  mother. 

In  the  midst  of  my  struggles  and  longing  for  an 
education,  a  young  coloured  boy  who  had  learned 
to  read  in  the  state  of  Ohio  came  to  Maiden.  As 
soon  as  the  coloured  people  found  out  that  he  could 
read,  a  newspaper  was  secured,  and  at  the  close  of 
nearly  every  day's  work  this  young  man  would  be 
surrounded  by  a  group  of  men  and  women  who 
were  anxious  to  hear  him  read  the  news  contained  in 
the  papers.  How  I  used  to  envy  this  man  !  He 
seemed  to  me  to  be  the  one  young  man  in  all  the  world 
who  ought  to  be  satisfied  with  his  attainments. 

About  this  time  the  question  of  having  some  kind 
of  a  school  opened  for  the  coloured  children  in  the 
village  began  to  be  discussed  by  members  of  the 


BOYHOOD    DAYS  29 

race.  As  it  would  be  the  first  school  for  Negro 
children  that  had  ever  been  opened  in  that  part  of 
Virginia,  it  was,  of  course,  to  be  a  great  event,  and 
the  discussion  excited  the  widest  interest.  The  most 
perplexing  question  was  where  to  find  a  teacher. 
The  young  man  from  Ohio  who  had  learned  to  read 
the  papers  was  considered,  but  his  age  was  against 
him.  In  the  midst  of  the  discussion  about  a  teacher, 
another  young  coloured  man  from  Ohio,  who  had 
been  a  soldier,  in  some  way  found  his  way  into  town. 
It  was  soon  learned  that  he  possessed  considerable 
education,  and  he  was  engaged  by  the  coloured  peo- 
ple to  teach  their  first  school.  As  yet  no  free  schools 
had  been  started  for  coloured  people  in  that  section, 
hence  each  family  agreed  to  pay  a  certain  amount 
per  month,  with  the  understanding  that  the  teacher 
was  to  "  board  'round  "  —  that  is,  spend  a  day  with 
each  family.  This  was  not  bad  for  the  teacher,  for 
each  family  tried  to  provide  the  very  best  on  the  day 
the  teacher  was  to  be  its  guest.  I  recall  that  I  looked 
forward  with  an  anxious  appetite  to  the  "  teacher's 
day  "  at  our  little  cabin. 

This  experience  of  a  whole  race  beginning  to  go 
to  school  for  the  first  time,  presents  one  of  the  most 
interesting  studies  that  has  ever  occurred  in  connec- 
tion with  the  development  of  any  race.  Few  peo- 
ple who  were  not  right  in  the  midst  of  the  scenes 


30  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

can  form  any  exact  idea  of  the  intense  desire  which, 
the  people  of  my  race  showed  for  an  education.  As 
I  have  stated,  it  was  a  whole  race  trying  to  go  to 
school.  Few  were  too  young,  and  none  too  old,  to 
make  the  attempt  to  learn.  As  fast  as  any  kind  of 
teachers  could  be  secured,  not  only  were  day-schools 
filled,  but  night-schools  as  well.  The  great  ambi- 
tion of  the  older  people  was  to  try  to  learn  to  read 
the  Bible  before  they  died.  With  this  end  in  view, 
men  and  women  who  were  fifty  or  seventy-five  years 
old  would  often  be  found  in  the  night-school.  Sun- 
day-schools were  formed  soon  after  freedom,  but  the 
principal  book  studied  in  the  Sunday-school  was  the 
spelling-book.  Day-school,  night-school,  Sunday- 
school,  were  always  crowded,  and  often  many  had  to 
be  turned  away  for  want  of  room. 

The  opening  of  the  school  in  the  Kanawha  Val- 
ley, however,  brought  to  me  one  of  the  keenest  dis- 
appointments that  I  ever  experienced.  I  had  been 
working  in  a  salt-furnace  for  several  months,  and  my 
stepfather  had  discovered  that  I  had  a  financial  value, 
and  so,  when  the  school  opened,  he  decided  that  he 
could  not  spare  me  from  my  work.  This  decision 
seemed  to  cloud  my  every  ambition.  The  disap- 
pointment was  made  all  the  more  severe  by  reason 
of  the  fact  that  my  place  of  work  was  where  I  could 
see  the  happy  children  passing  to  and  from  school, 


BOYHOOD    DAYS  31 

mornings  and  afternoons.  Despite  this  disappoint- 
ment, however,  I  determined  that  I  would  learn 
something,  anyway.  I  applied  myself  with  greater 
earnestness  than  ever  to  the  mastering  of  what  was 
in  the  "blue-back"  speller. 

My  mother  sympathized  with  me  in  my  disap- 
pointment, and  sought  to  comfort  me  in  all  the  ways 
she  could,  and  to  help  me  find  a  way  to  learn. 
After  a  while  I  succeeded  in  making  arrangements 
with  the  teacher  to  give  me  some  lessons  at  night, 
after  the  day's  work  was  done.  These  night  lessons 
were  so  welcome  that  I  think  I  learned  more  at  night 
than  the  other  children  did  during  the  day.  My 
own  experiences  in  the  night-school  gave  me  faith  in 
the  night-school  idea,  with  which,  in  after  years,  I 
had  to  do  both  at  Hampton  and  Tuskegee.  But 
my  boyish  heart  was  still  set  upon  going  to  the  day- 
school,  and  I  let  no  opportunity  slip  to  push  my 
case.  Finally  I  won,  and  was  permitted  to  go  to 
the  school  in  the  day  for  a  few  months,  with  the  un- 
derstanding that  I  was  to  rise  early  in  the  morning 
and  work  in  the  furnace  till  nine  o'clock,  and  return 
immediately  after  school  closed  in  the  afternoon  for 
at  least  two  more  hours  of  work. 

The  schoolhouse  was  some  distance  from  the 
furnace,  and  as  I  had  to  work  till  nine  o'clock,  and 
the  school  opened  at  nine,  I  found  myself  in  a  diffi- 


32  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

culty.  School  would  always  be  begun  before  I 
reached  it,  and  sometimes  my  class  had  recited.  To 
get  around  this  difficulty  I  yielded  to  a  temptation 
for  which  most  people,  I  suppose,  will  condemn  me  ; 
but  since  it  is  a  fact,  I  might  as  well  state  it.  I  have 
great  faith  in  the  power  and  influence  of  facts.  It  is 
seldom  that  anything  is  permanently  gained  by  hold- 
ing back  a  fact.  There  was  a  large  clock  in  a  little 
office  in  the  furnace.  This  clock,  of  course,  all  the 
hundred  or  more  workmen  depended  upon  to  regu- 
late their  hours  of  beginning  and  ending  the  day's 
work.  I  got  the  idea  that  the  way  for  me  to  reach 
school  on  time  was  to  move  the  clock  hands  from 
half-past  eight  up  to  the  nine  o'clock  mark.  This 
I  found  myself  doing  morning  after  morning,  till 
the  furnace  "  boss  "  discovered  that  something  was 
wrong,  and  locked  the  clock  in  a  case.  I  did  not 
mean  to  inconvenience  anybody.  I  simply  meant 
to  reach  that  schoolhouse  in  time. 

When,  however,  I  found  myself  at  the  school 
for  the  first  time,  I  also  found  myself  confronted 
with  two  other  difficulties.  In  the  first  place,  I 
found  that  all  of  the  other  children  wore  hats  or 
caps  on  their  heads,  and  I  had  neither  hat  nor  cap. 
In  fact,  I  do  not  remember  that  up  to  the  time  of 
going  to  school  I  had  ever  worn  any  kind  of  cover- 
ing upon   my   head,   nor  do   I   recall  that  either   I 


BOYHOOD    DAYS  33 

or  anybody  else  had  even  thought  anything  about 
the  need  of  covering  for  my  head.  But,  of  course, 
when  I  saw  how  all  the  other  boys  were  dressed,  I 
began  to  feel  quite  uncomfortable.  As  usual,  I 
put  the  case  before  my  mother,  and  she  explained 
to  me  that  she  had  no  money  with  which  to  buy  a 
"  store  hat,"  which  was  a  rather  new  institution  at 
that  time  among  the  members  of  my  race  and  was 
considered  quite  the  thing  for  young  and  old  to 
own,  but  that  she  would  find  a  way  to  help  me  out 
of  the  difficulty.  She  accordingly  got  two  pieces 
of  c<  homespun  "  (jeans)  and  sewed  them  together, 
and  I  was  soon  the  proud  possessor  of  my  first 
cap. 

The  lesson  that  my  mother  taught  me  in  this  has 
always  remained  with  me,  and  I  have  tried  as  best 
I  could  to  teach  it  to  others.  I  have  always  felt 
proud,  whenever  I  think  of  the  incident,  that  my 
mother  had  strength  of  character  enough  not  to  be 
led  into  the  temptation  of  seeming  to  be  that  which 
she  was  not  —  of  trying  to  impress  my  schoolmates 
and  others  with  the  fact  that  she  was  able  to  buy 
me  a  "store  hat"  when  she  was  not.  I  have  always 
felt  proud  that  she  refused  to  go  into  debt  for  that 
which  she  did  not  have  the  money  to  pay  for. 
Since  that  time  I  have  owned  many  kinds  of  caps 
and  hats,  but  never  one   of  which    I    have  felt   so 


34  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

proud  as  of  the  cap  made  of  the  two  pieces  of  cloth 
sewed  together  by  my  mother.  I  have  noted  the 
fact,  but  without  satisfaction,  I  need  not  add,  that 
several  of  the  boys  who  began  their  careers  with 
"store  hats"  and  who  were  my  schoolmates  and 
used  to  join  in  the  sport  that  was  made  of  me 
because  I  had  only  a  "  homespun  "  cap,  have  ended 
their  careers  in  the  penitentiary,  while  others  are 
not  able  now  to  buy  any  kind  of  hat. 

My  second  difficulty  was  with  regard  to  my 
name,  or  rather  a  name.  From  the  time  when  I 
could  remember  anything,  I  had  been  called  simply 
"  Booker."  Before  going  to  school  it  had  never 
occurred  to  me  that  it  was  needful  or  appropriate 
to  have  an  additional  name.  When  I  heard  the 
school-roll  called,  I  noticed  that  all  of  the  children 
had  at  least  two  names,  and  some  of  them  indulged 
in  what  seemed  to  me  the  extravagance  of  having 
three.  I  was  in  deep  perplexity,  because  I  knew 
that  the  teacher  would  demand  of  me  at  least  two 
names,  and  I  had  only  one.  By  the  time  the  occa- 
sion came  for  the  enrolling  of  my  name,  an  idea 
occurred  to  me  which  I  thought  would  make  me 
equal  to  the  situation ;  and  so,  when  the  teacher 
asked  me  what  my  full  name  was,  I  calmly  told 
him  "  Booker  Washington,"  as  if  I  had  been  called 
by  that  name  all  my  life ;  and  by  that  name  I  have 


BOYHOOD    DAYS  35 

since  been  known.  Later  in  my  life  I  found  that 
my  mother  had  given  me  the  name  of  "  Booker 
Taliaferro  "  soon  after  I  was  born,  but  in  some  way 
that  part  of  my  name  seemed  to  disappear  and  for 
a  long  while  was  forgotten,  but  as  soon  as  I  found 
out  about  it  I  revived  it,  and  made  my  full  name 
"  Booker  Taliaferro  Washington."  I  think  there 
are  not  many  men  in  our  country  who  have  had  the 
privilege  of  naming  themselves  in  the  way  that  I 
have. 

More  than  once  I  have  tried  to  picture  myself  in 
the  position  of  a  boy  or  man  with  an  honoured  and 
distinguished  ancestry  which  I  could  trace  back 
through  a  period  of  hundreds  of  years,  and  who 
had  not  only  inherited  a  name,  but  fortune  and  a 
proud  family  homestead  ;  and  yet  I  have  sometimes 
had  the  feeling  that  if  I  had  inherited  these,  and 
had  been  a  member  of  a  more  popular  race,  I 
should  have  been  inclined  to  yield  to  the  tempta- 
tion of  depending  upon  my  ancestry  and  my  colour 
to  do  that  for  me  which  I  should  do  for  myself. 
Years  ago  I  resolved  that  because  I  had  no  ancestry 
myself  I  would  leave  a  record  of  which  my  children 
would  be  proud,  and  which  might  encourage  them 
to  still  higher  effort. 

The  world  should  not  pass  judgment  upon  the 
Negro,  and  especially  the  Negro  youth,  too  quickly 


36  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

or  too  harshly.  The  Negro  boy  has  obstacles,  dis- 
couragements, and  temptations  to  battle  with  that 
are  little  known  to  those  not  situated  as  he  is. 
When  a  white  boy  undertakes  a  task,  it  is  taken  for 
granted  that  he  will  succeed.  On  the  other  hand, 
people  are  usually  surprised  if  the  Negro  boy  does 
not  fail.  In  a  word,  the  Negro  youth  starts  out 
with  the  presumption  against  him. 

The  influence  of  ancestry,  however,  is  important 
in  helping  forward  any  individual  or  race,  if  too 
much  reliance  is  not  placed  upon  it.  Those  who 
constantly  direct  attention  to  the  Negro  youth's 
moral  weaknesses,  and  compare  his  advancement 
with  that  of  white  youths,  do  not  consider  the 
influence  of  the  memories  which  cling  about  the 
old  family  homesteads.  I  have  no  idea,  as  I  have 
stated  elsewhere,  who  my  grandmother  was.  I 
have,  or  have  had,  uncles  and  aunts  and  cousins, 
but  I  have  no  knowledge  as  to  where  most  of  them 
are.  My  case  will  illustrate  that  of  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  black  people  in  every  part  of  our 
country.  The  very  fact  that  the  white  boy  is  con- 
scious that,  if  he  fails  in  life,  he  will  disgrace  the 
whole  family  record,  extending  back  through  many 
generations,  is  of  tremendous  value  in  helping  him 
to  resist  temptations.  The  fact  that  the  individual 
has  behind  and  surrounding  him  proud  family  his- 


BOYHOOD    DAYS  37 

tory  and  connection  serves  as  a  stimulus  to  help 
him  to  overcome  obstacles  when  striving  for  suc- 
cess. 

The  time  that  I  was  permitted  to  attend  school 
during  the  day  was  short,  and  my  attendance  was 
irregular.  It  was  not  long  before  I  had  to  stop 
attending  day-school  altogether,  and  devote  all  of 
my  time  again  to  work.  I  resorted  to  the  night- 
school  again.  In  fact,  the  greater  part  of  the 
education  I  secured  in  my  boyhood  was  gathered 
through  the  night-school  after  my  day's  work  was 
done.  I  had  difficulty  often  in  securing  a  satis- 
factory teacher.  Sometimes,  after  I  had  secured 
some  one  to  teach  me  at  night,  I  would  find,  much 
to  my  disappointment,  that  the  teacher  knew  but 
little  more  than  I  did.  Often  I  would  have  to 
walk  several  miles  at  night  in  order  to  recite  my 
night-school  lessons.  There  was  never  a  time  in 
my  youth,  no  matter  how  dark  and  discouraging 
the  days  might  be,  when  one  resolve  did  not  con- 
tinually remain  with  me,  and  that  was  a  determina- 
tion to  secure  an  education  at  any  cost. 

Soon  after  we  moved  to  West  Virginia,  my 
mother  adopted  into  our  family,  notwithstanding 
our  poverty,  an  orphan  boy,  to  whom  afterward  we 
gave  the  name  of  James  B.  Washington.  He  has 
ever  since  remained  a  member  of  the  family. 


38  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

After  I  had  worked  in  the  salt-furnace  for  some 
time,  work  was  secured  for  me  in  a  coal-mine  which 
was  operated  mainly  for  the  purpose  of  securing 
fuel  for  the  salt-furnace.  Work  in  the  coal-mine  I 
always  dreaded.  One  reason  for  this  was  that  any 
one  who  worked  in  a  coal-mine  was  always  unclean, 
at  least  while  at  work,  and  it  was  a  very  hard  job  to 
get  one's  skin  clean  after  the  day's  work  was  over. 
Then  it  was  fully  a  mile  from  the  opening  of  the 
coal-mine  to  the  face  of  the  coal,  and  all,  of  course, 
was  in  the  blackest  darkness.  I  do  not  believe  that 
one  ever  experiences  anywhere  else  such  darkness 
as  he  does  in  a  coal-mine.  The  mine  was  divided 
into  a  large  number  of  different  "rooms"  or  de- 
partments, and,  as  I  never  was  able  to  learn  the 
location  of  all  these  "  rooms,"  I  many  times  found 
myself  lost  in  the  mine.  To  add  to  the  horror  of 
being  lost,  sometimes  my  light  would  go  out,  and 
then,  if  I  did  not  happen  to  have  a  match,  I  would 
wander  about  in  the  darkness  until  by  chance  I 
found  some  one  to  give  me  a  light.  The  work 
was  not  only  hard,  but  it  was  dangerous.  There 
was  always  the  danger  of  being  blown  to  pieces  by  a 
premature  explosion  of  powder,  or  of  being  crushed 
by  falling  slate.  Accidents  from  one  or  the  other 
of  these  causes  were  frequently  occurring,  and  this 
kept  me  in  constant   fear.      Many  children  of  the 


BOYHOOD    DAYS  39 

tenderest  years  were  compelled  then,  as  is  now  true, 
I  fear,  in  most  coal-mining  districts,  to  spend  a 
large  part  of  their  lives  in  these  coal-mines,  with 
little  opportunity  to  get  an  education  ;  and,  what  is 
worse,  I  have  often  noted  that,  as  a  rule,  young 
boys  who  begin  life  in  a  coal-mine  are  often  physi- 
cally and  mentally  dwarfed.  They  soon  lose  ambi- 
tion to  do  anything  else  than  to  continue  as  a 
coal-miner. 

In  those  days,  and  later  as  a  young  man,  I  used 
to  try  to  picture  in  my  imagination  the  feelings  and 
ambitions  of  a  white  boy  with  absolutely  no  limit 
placed  upon  his  aspirations  and  activities.  I  used 
to  envy  the  white  boy  who  had  no  obstacles  placed 
in  the  way  of  his  becoming  a  Congressman,  Gov- 
ernor, Bishop,  or  President  by  reason  of  the  accident 
of  his  birth  or  race.  I  used  to  picture  the  way  that 
I  would  act  under  such  circumstances;  how  I  would 
begin  at  the  bottom  and  keep  rising  until  I  reached 
the  highest  round  of  success. 

In  later  years,  I  confess  that  I  do  not  envy  the 
white  boy  as  I  once  did.  I  have  learned  that  suc- 
cess is  to  be  measured  not  so  much  by  the  position 
that  one  has  reached  in  life  as  by  the  obstacles  which 
he  has  overcome  while  trying  to  succeed.  Looked 
at  from  this  standpoint,  I  almost  reach  the  conclu- 
sion that  often  the  Negro  boy's  birth  and  connection 


4o  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

with  an  unpopular  race  is  an  advantage,  so  far  as 
real  life  is  concerned.  With  few  exceptions,  the 
Negro  youth  must  work  harder  and  must  perform 
his  tasks  even  better  than  a  white  youth  in  order  to 
secure  recognition.  But  out  of  the  hard  and  un- 
usual struggle  through  which  he  is  compelled  to 
pass,  he  gets  a  strength,  a  confidence,  that  one 
misses  whose  pathway  is  comparatively  smooth  by 
reason  of  birth  and  race. 

From  any  point  of  view,  I  had  rather  be  what  I 
am,  a  member  of  the  Negro  race,  than  be  able  to 
claim  membership  with  the  most  favoured  of  any 
other  race.  I  have  always  been  made  sad  when  I 
have  heard  members  of  any  race  claiming  rights  and 
privileges,  or  certain  badges  of  distinction,  on  the 
ground  simply  that  they  were  members  of  this  or 
that  race,  regardless  of  their  own  individual  worth 
or  attainments.  I  have  been  made  to  feel  sad  for 
such  persons  because  I  am  conscious  of  the  fact 
that  mere  connection  with  what  is  known  as  a 
superior  race  will  not  permanently  carry  an  indi- 
vidual forward  unless  he  has  individual  worth,  and 
mere  connection  with  what  is  regarded  as  an  inferior 
race  will  not  finally  hold  an  individual  back  if  he 
possesses  intrinsic,  individual  merit.  Every  perse- 
cuted individual  and  race  should  get  much  consola- 
tion out  of  the  great  human  law,  which  is  universal 


BOYHOOD    DAYS  41 

and  eternal,  that  merit,  no  matter  under  what  skin 
found,  is,  in  the  long  run,  recognized  and  rewarded. 
This  I  have  said  here,  not  to  call  attention  to  my- 
self as  an  individual,  but  to  the  race  to  which  I  am 
proud  to  belong. 


CHAPTER   III 

THE    STRUGGLE    FOR    AN    EDUCATION 

ONE  day,  while  at  work  in  the  coal-mine,  I 
happened  to  overhear  two  miners  talking 
about  a  great  school  for  coloured  people 
somewhere  in  Virginia.  This  was  the  first  time 
that  I  had  ever  heard  anything  about  any  kind  of 
school  or  college  that  was  more  pretentious  than 
the  little  coloured   school  in  our  town. 

In  the  darkness  of  the  mine  I  noiselessly  crept 
as  close  as  I  could  to  the  two  men  who  were  talking. 
I  heard  one  tell  the  other  that  not  only  was  the 
school  established  for  the  members  of  my  race,  but 
that  opportunities  were  provided  by  which  poor  but 
worthy  students  could  work  out  all  or  a  part  of  the 
cost  of  board,  and  at  the  same  time  be  taught  some 
trade  or  industry. 

As  they  went  on  describing  the  school,  it  seemed 
to  me  that  it  must  be  the  greatest  place  on  earth, 
and  not  even  Heaven  presented  more  attractions  for 
me  at  that  time  than  did  the  Hampton  Normal  and 
Agricultural  Institute  in  Virginia,  about  which  these 

42 


THE   STRUGGLE    FOR   AN   EDUCATION     43 

men  were  talking.  I  resolved  at  once  to  go  to  that 
school,  although  I  had  no  idea  where  it  was,  or  how 
many  miles  away,  or  how  I  was  going  to  reach  it ;  I 
remembered  only  that  I  was  on  fire  constantly  with 
one  ambition,  and  that  was  to  go  to  Hampton. 
This  thought  was  with   me   day  and  night. 

After  hearing  of  the  Hampton  Institute,  I  con- 
tinued to  work  for  a  few  months  longer  in  the  coal- 
mine. While  at  work  there,  I  heard  of  a  vacant 
position  in  the  household  of  General  Lewis  Ruffner, 
the  owner  of  the  salt-furnace  and  coal-mine.  Mrs. 
Viola  Ruffner,  the  wife  of  General  Ruffner,  was  a 
"Yankee"  woman  from  Vermont.  Mrs.  Ruffner 
had  a  reputation  all  through  the  vicinity  for  being 
very  strict  with  her  servants,  and  especially  with  the 
boys  who  tried  to  serve  her.  Few  of  them  had 
remained  with  her  more  than  two  or  three  weeks. 
They  all  left  with  the  same  excuse :  she  was  too 
strict.  I  decided,  however,  that  I  would  rather  try 
Mrs.  Ruffner' s  house  than  remain  in  the  coal-mine, 
and  so  my  mother  applied  to  her  for  the  vacant 
position.      I  was  hired  at  a  salary  of  $5  per  month. 

I  had  heard  so  much  about  Mrs.  Ruffner's 
severity  that  I  was  almost  afraid  to  see  her,  and 
trembled  when  I  went  into  her  presence.  I  had 
not  lived  with  her  many  weeks,  however,  before  I 
began   to  understand  her.      I   soon   began  to   learn 


44  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

that,  first  of  all,  she  wanted  everything  kept  clean 
about  her,  that  she  wanted  things  done  promptly 
and  systematically,  and  that  at  the  bottom  of  every- 
thing she  wanted  absolute  honesty  and  frankness. 
Nothing  must  be  sloven  or  slipshod ;  every  door, 
every  fence,  must  be  kept  in  repair. 

I  cannot  now  recall  how  long  I  lived  with  Mrs. 
Ruffner  before  going  to  Hampton,  but  I  think  it 
must  have  been  a  year  and  a  half.  At  any  rate,  I 
here  repeat  what  I  have  said  more  than  once  before, 
that  the  lessons  that  I  learned  in  the  home  of  Mrs. 
Ruffner  were  as  valuable  to  me  as  any  education  I 
have  ever  gotten  anywhere  since.  Even  to  this  day 
I  never  see  bits  of  paper  scattered  around  a  house 
or  in  the  street  that  I  do  not  want  to  pick  them  up 
at  once.  I  never  see  a  filthy  yard  that  I  do  not 
want  to  clean  it,  a  paling  off  of  a  fence  that  I  do  not 
want  to  put  it  on,  an  unpainted  or  unwhitewashed 
house  that  I  do  not  want  to  paint  or  whitewash  it, 
or  a  button  off  one's  clothes,  or  a  grease-spot  on 
them  or  on  a  floor,  that  I  do  not  want  to  call 
attention   to  it. 

From  fearing  Mrs.  Ruffner  I  soon  learned  to 
look  upon  her  as  one  of  my  best  friends.  When 
she  found  that  she  could  trust  me  she  did  so  im- 
plicitly. During  the  one  or  two  winters  that  I  was 
with   her  she    gave   me   an   opportunity   to   go    to 


THE   STRUGGLE    FOR   AN   EDUCATION     45 

school  for  an  hour  in  the  day  during  a  portion  of 
the  winter  months,  but  most  of  my  studying  was 
done  at  night,  sometimes  alone,  sometimes  under 
some  one  whom  I  could  hire  to  teach  me.  Mrs. 
Ruffner  always  encouraged  and  sympathized  with 
me  in  all  my  efforts  to  get  an  education.  It  was 
while  living  with  her  that  I  began  to  get  together  my 
first  library.  I  secured  a  dry-goods  box,  knocked  out 
one  side  of  it,  put  some  shelves  in  it,  and  began 
putting  into  it  every  kind  of  book  that  I  could  get 
my  hands  upon,  and  called  it  my  "  library." 

Notwithstanding  my  success  at  Mrs.  Ruffner's 
I  did  not  give  up  the  idea  of  going  to  the  Hamp- 
ton Institute.  In  the  fall  of  1872  I  determined  to 
make  an  effort  to  get  there,  although,  as  I  have 
stated,  I  had  no  definite  idea  of  the  direction  in 
which  Hampton  was,  or  of  what  it  would  cost  to 
go  there.  I  do  not  think  that  any  one  thoroughly 
sympathized  with  me  in  my  ambition  to  go  to 
Hampton  unless  it  was  my  mother,  and  she  was 
troubled  with  a  grave  fear  that  I  was  starting  out 
on  a  "  wild-goose  chase."  At  any  rate,  I  got  only 
a  half-hearted  consent  from  her  that  I  might  start. 
The  small  amount  of  money  that  I  had  earned  had 
been  consumed  by  my  stepfather  and  the  remainder 
of  the  family,  with  the  exception  of  a  very  few  dol- 
lars, and  so   I   had    very   little   with   which   to   buy 


46  UP    FROM    SLAVERY 

clothes  and  pay  my  travelling  expenses.  My 
brother  John  helped  me  all  that  he  could,  but  of 
course  that  was  not  a  great  deal,  for  his  work  was 
in  the  coal-mine,  where  he  did  not  earn  much,  and 
most  of  what  he  did  earn  went  in  the  direction  of 
paying  the  household  expenses. 

Perhaps  the  thing  that  touched  and  pleased  me 
most  in  connection  with  my  starting  for  Hampton 
was  the  interest  that  many  of  the  older  coloured 
people  took  in  the  matter.  They  had  spent  the 
best  days  of  their  lives  in  slavery,  and  hardly  ex- 
pected to  live  to  see  the  time  when  they  would  see 
a  member  of  their  race  leave  home  to  attend  a 
boarding-school.  Some  of  these  older  people 
would  give  me  a  nickel,  others  a  quarter,  or  a 
handkerchief. 

Finally  the  great  day  came,  and  I  started  for 
Hampton.  I  had  only  a  small,  cheap  satchel  that 
contained  what  few  articles  of  clothing  I  could  get. 
My  mother  at  the  time  was  rather  weak  and  broken 
in  health.  I  hardly  expected  to  see  her  again,  and 
thus  our  parting  was  all  the  more  sad.  She,  how- 
ever, was  very  brave  through  it  all.  At  that  time 
there  were  no  through  trains  connecting  that  part 
of  West  Virginia  with  eastern  Virginia.  Trains  ran 
only  a  portion  of  the  way,  and  the  remainder  of 
the  distance  was  travelled  by  stage-coaches. 


THE    STRUGGLE    FOR    AN    EDUCATION     47 

The  distance  from  Maiden  to  Hampton  is  about 
five  hundred  miles.  I  had  not  been  away  from 
home  many  hours  before  it  began  to  grow  painfully 
evident  that  I  did  not  have  enough  money  to  pay 
my  fare  to  Hampton.  One  experience  I  shall  long 
remember.  I  had  been  travelling  over  the  moun- 
tains most  of  the  afternoon  in  an  old-fashioned 
stage-coach,  when,  late  in  the  evening,  the  coach 
stopped  for  the  night  at  a  common,  unpainted 
house  called  a  hotel.  All  the  other  passengers 
except  myself  were  whites.  In  my  ignorance  I 
supposed  that  the  little  hotel  existed  for  the  pur- 
pose of  accommodating  the  passengers  who  trav- 
elled on  the  stage-coach.  The  difference  that  the 
colour  of  one's  skin  would  make  I  had  not  thought 
anything  about.  After  all  the  other  passengers  had 
been  shown  rooms  and  were  getting  ready  for  sup- 
per, I  shyly  presented  myself  before  the  man  at 
the  desk.  It  is  true  I  had  practically  no  money  in 
my  pocket  with  which  to  pay  for  bed  or  food,  but  I 
had  hoped  in  some  way  to  beg  my  way  into  the 
good  graces  of  the  landlord,  for  at  that  season  in 
the  mountains  of  Virginia  the  weather  was  cold,  and 
I  wanted  to  get  indoors  for  the  night.  Without 
asking  as  to  whether  I  had  any  money,  the  man  at 
the  desk  firmly  refused  to  even  consider  the  matter 
of  providing  me  with   food  or  lodging.     This  was 


48  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

my  first  experience  in  finding  out  what  the  colour  of 
my  skin  meant.  In  some  way  I  managed  to  keep 
warm  by  walking  about,  and  so  got  through  the 
night.  My  whole  soul  was  so  bent  upon  reaching 
Hampton  that  I  did  not  have  time  to  cherish  any 
bitterness  toward  the  hotel-keeper. 

By  walking,  begging  rides  both  in  wagons  and 
in  the  cars,  in  some  way,  after  a  number  of  days,  I 
reached  the  city  of  Richmond,  Virginia,  about 
eighty-two  miles  from  Hampton.  When  I  reached 
there,  tired,  hungry,  and  dirty,  it  was  late  in  the 
night.  I  had  never  been  in  a  large  city,  and  this 
rather  added  to  my  misery.  When  I  reached 
Richmond,  I  was  completely  out  of  money.  I  had 
not  a  single  acquaintance  in  the  place,  and,  being 
unused  to  city  ways,  I  did  not  know  where  to  go. 
I  applied  at  several  places  for  lodging,  but  they  all 
wanted  money,  and  that  was  what  I  did  not  have. 
Knowing  nothing  else  better  to  do,  I  walked  the 
streets.  In  doing  this  I  passed  by  many  food- 
stands  where  fried  chicken  and  half-moon  apple 
pies  were  piled  high  and  made  to  present  a  most 
tempting  appearance.  At  that  time  it  seemed  to 
me  that  I  would  have  promised  all  that  I  expected 
to  possess  in  the  future  to  have  gotten  hold  of  one 
of  those  chicken  legs  or  one  of  those  pies.  But  I 
could  not  get  either  of  these,  nor  anything  else  to  eat. 


THE    STRUGGLE    FOR   AN   EDUCATION     49 

I  must  have  walked  the  streets  till  after  mid- 
night. At  last  I  became  so  exhausted  that  I  could 
walk,  no  longer.  I  was  tired,  I  was  hungry,  I  was 
everything  but  discouraged.  Just  about  the  time 
when  I  reached  extreme  physical  exhaustion,  I  came 
upon  a  portion  of  a  street  where  the  board  sidewalk 
was  considerably  elevated.  I  waited  for  a  few  min- 
utes, till  I  was  sure  that  no  passers-by  could  see 
me,  and  then  crept  under  the  sidewalk  and  lay  for 
the  night  upon  the  ground,  with  my  satchel  of 
clothing  for  a  pillow.  Nearly  all  night  I  could 
hear  the  tramp  of  feet  over  my  head.  The  next 
morning  I  found  myself  somewhat  refreshed,  but  I 
was  extremely  hungry,  because  it  had  been  a  long 
time  since  I  had  had  sufficient  food.  As  soon  as  it 
became  light  enough  for  me  to  see  my  surround- 
ings I  noticed  that  I  was  near  a  large  ship,  and  that 
this  ship  seemed  to  be  unloading  a  cargo  of  pig 
iron.  I  went  at  once  to  the  vessel  and  asked  the 
captain  to  permit  me  to  help  unload  the  vessel  in 
order  to  get  money  for  food.  The  captain,  a  white 
man,  who  seemed  to  be  kind-hearted,  consented. 
I  worked  long  enough  to  earn  money  for  my 
breakfast,  and  it  seems  to  me,  as  I  remember  it 
now,  to  have  been  about  the  best  breakfast  that  I 
have  ever  eaten. 

My  work  pleased  the  captain  so  well  that  he  told 


50  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

me  if  I  desired  I  could  continue  working  for  a 
small  amount  per  day.  This  I  was  very  glad  to 
do.  I  continued  working  on  this  vessel  for  a  num- 
ber of  days.  After  buying  food  with  the  small 
wages  I  received  there  was  not  much  left  to  add  to 
the  amount  I  must  get  to  pay  my  way  to  Hamp- 
ton. In  order  to  economize  in  every  way  possible, 
so  as  to  be  sure  to  reach  Hampton  in  a  reasonable 
time,  I  continued  to  sleep  under  the  same  sidewalk 
that  gave  me  shelter  the  first  night  I  was  in  Rich- 
mond. Many  years  after  that  the  coloured  citizens 
of  Richmond  very  kindly  tendered  me  a  reception 
at  which  there  must  have  been  two  thousand  peo- 
ple present.  This  reception  was  held  not  far  from 
the  spot  where  I  slept  the  first  night  I  spent  in 
that  city,  and  I  must  confess  that  my  mind  was 
more  upon  the  sidewalk  that  first  gave  me  shelter 
than  upon  the  reception,  agreeable  and  cordial  as  it 
was. 

When  I  had  saved  what  I  considered  enough 
money  with  which  to  reach  Hampton,  I  thanked 
the  captain  of  the  vessel  for  his  kindness,  and 
started  again.  Without  any  unusual  occurrence  I 
reached  Hampton,  with  a  surplus  of  exactly  fifty 
cents  with  which  to  begin  my  education.  To  me 
it  had  been  a  long,  eventful  journey  ;  but  the  first 
sight  of  the  large,  three-story,  brick  school  building 


THE   STRUGGLE    FOR   AN    EDUCATION    51 

seemed  to  have  rewarded  me  for  all  that  I  had 
undergone  in  order  to  reach  the  place.  If  the  peo- 
ple who  gave  the  money  to  provide  that  building 
could  appreciate  the  influence  the  sight  of  it  had 
upon  me,  as  well  as  upon  thousands  of  other 
youths,  they  would  feel  all  the  more  encouraged  to 
make  such  gifts.  It  seemed  to  me  to  be  the  largest 
and  most  beautiful  building  I  had  ever  seen.  The 
sight  of  it  seemed  to  give  me  new  life.  I  felt  that 
a  new  kind  of  existence  had  now  begun  —  that  life 
would  now  have  a  new  meaning.  I  felt  that  I  had 
reached  the  promised  land,  and  I  resolved  to  let  no 
obstacle  prevent  me  from  putting  forth  the  highest 
effort  to  fit  myself  to  accomplish  the  most  good  in 
the  world. 

As  soon  as  possible  after  reaching  the  grounds 
of  the  Hampton  Institute,  I  presented  mvself 
before  the  head  teacher  for  assignment  to  a  class. 
Having  been  so  long  without  proper  food,  a  bath, 
and  change  of  clothing,  I  did  not,  of  course,  make 
a  very  favourable  impression  upon  her,  and  I  could 
see  at  once  that  there  were  doubts  in  her  mind 
about  the  wisdom  of  admitting  me  as  a  student.  I 
felt  that  I  could  hardly  blame  her  if  she  got  the 
idea  that  I  was  a  worthless  loafer  or  tramp.  For 
some  time  she  did  not  refuse  to  admit  me,  neither 
did  she  decide  in    my   favour,  and  I   continued  to 


52  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

linger  about  her,  and  to  impress  her  in  all  the  ways 
I  could  with  my  worthiness.  In  the  meantime  I 
saw  her  admitting  other  students,  and  that  added 
greatly  to  my  discomfort,  for  I  felt,  deep  down  in 
my  heart,  that  I  could  do  as  well  as  they,  if  I  could 
only  get  a  chance  to  show  what  was  in  me. 

After  some  hours  had  passed,  the  head  teacher 
said  to  me  :  "  The  adjoining  recitation-room  needs 
sweeping.     Take  the  broom  and  sweep  it." 

It  occurred  to  me  at  once  that  here  was  my 
chance.  Never  did  I  receive  an  order  with  more 
delight.  I  knew  that  I  could  sweep,  for  Mrs.  RufF- 
ner  had  thoroughly  taught  me  how  to  do  that  when 
I  lived  with  her. 

I  swept  the  recitation-room  three  times.  Then  I 
got  a  dusting-cloth  and  I  dusted  it  four  times.  All 
the  woodwork  around  the  walls,  every  bench,  table, 
and  desk,  I  went  over  four  times  with  my  dusting- 
cloth.  Besides,  every  piece  of  furniture  had  been 
moved  and  every  closet  and  corner  in  the  room  had 
been  thoroughly  cleaned.  I  had  the  feeling  that 
in  a  large  measure  my  future  depended  upon  the 
impression  I  made  upon  the  teacher  in  the  cleaning 
of  that  room.  When  I  was  through,  I  reported  to 
the  head  teacher.  She  was  a  "  Yankee  "  woman  who 
knew  just  where  to  look  for  dirt.  She  went  into 
the  room  and  inspected  the  floor  and  closets ;  then 


THE   STRUGGLE    FOR   AN    EDUCATION    53 

she  took  her  handkerchief  and  rubbed  it  on  the 
woodwork  about  the  walls,  and  over  the  table  and 
benches.  When  she  was  unable  to  find  one  bit  of 
dirt  on  the  floor,  or  a  particle  of  dust  on  any  of  the 
furniture,  she  quietly  remarked,  "  I  guess  you  will 
do  to  enter  this  institution." 

I  was  one  of  the  happiest  souls  on  earth.  The 
sweeping  of  that  room  was  my  college  examination, 
and  never  did  any  youth  pass  an  examination  for 
entrance  into  Harvard  or  Yale  that  gave  him  more 
genuine  satisfaction.  I  have  passed  several  exami- 
nations since  then,  but  I  have  always  felt  that  this 
was  the  best  one  I  ever  passed. 

I  have  spoken  of  my  own  experience  in  entering  the 
Hampton  Institute.  Perhaps  few,  if  any,  had  any- 
thing like  the  same  experience  that  I  had,  but  about 
that  same  period  there  were  hundreds  who  found 
their  way  to  Hampton  and  other  institutions  after 
experiencing  something  of  the  same  difficulties  that 
I  went  through.  The  young  men  and  women  were 
determined  to  secure  an  education  at  any  cost. 

The  sweeping  of  the  recitation-room  in  the  man- 
ner that  I  did  it  seems  to  have  paved  the  way  for 
me  to  get  through  Hampton.  Miss  Mary  F. 
Mackie,  the  head  teacher,  offered  me  a  position  as 
janitor.  This,  of  course,  I  gladly  accepted,  because 
it  was  a  place  where  I  could  work  out  nearly  all  the 


54  UP    FROM    SLAVERY 

cost  of  my  board.  The  work  was  hard  and  taxing, 
but  I  stuck  to  it.  I  had  a  large  number  of  rooms 
to  care  for,  and  had  to  work  late  into  the  night, 
while  at  the  same  time  I  had  to  rise  by  four  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  in  order  to  build  the  fires  and  have 
a  little  time  in  which  to  prepare  my  lessons.  In  all 
my  career  at  Hampton,  and  ever  since  I  have  been 
out  in  the  world,  Miss  Mary  F.  Mackie,  the  head 
teacher  to  whom  I  have  referred,  proved  one  of  my 
strongest  and  most  helpful  friends.  Her  advice  and 
encouragement  were  always  helpful  and  strengthen- 
ing to  me  in  the  darkest  hour. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  impression  that  was  made 
upon  me  by  the  buildings  and  general  appearance 
of  the  Hampton  Institute,  but  I  have  not  spoken 
of  that  which  made  the  greatest  and  most  lasting 
impression  upon  me,  and  that  was  a  great  man  — 
the  noblest,  rarest  human  being  that  it  has  ever  been 
my  privilege  to  meet.  I  refer  to  the  late  General 
Samuel  C.  Armstrong. 

It  has  been  my  fortune  to  meet  personally  many 
of  what  are  called  great  characters,  both  in  Europe 
and  America,  but  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  I 
never  met  any  man  who,  in  my  estimation,  was 
the  equal  of  General  Armstrong.  Fresh  from  the 
degrading  influences  of  the  slave  plantation  and  the 
coal-mines,  it  was    a    rare    privilege   for   me    to   be 


THE    STRUGGLE    FOR   AN    EDUCATION    55 

permitted  to  come  into  direct  contact  with  such  a 
character  as  General  Armstrong.  I  shall  always 
remember  that  the  first  time  I  went  into  his  presence 
he  made  the  impression  upon  me  of  being  a  perfect 
man ;  I  was  made  to  feel  that  there  was  something 
about  him  that  was  superhuman.  It  was  my  privi- 
lege to  know  the  General  personally  from  the  time 
I  entered  Hampton  till  he  died,  and  the  more  I  saw 
of  him  the  greater  he  grew  in  my  estimation.  One 
might  have  removed  from  Hampton  all  the  build- 
ings, class-rooms,  teachers,  and  industries,  and  given 
the  men  and  women  there  the  opportunity  of  coming 
into  daily  contact  with  General  Armstrong,  and  that 
alone  would  have  been  a  liberal  education.  The 
older  I  grow,  the  more  I  am  convinced  that  there  is 
no  education  which  one  can  get  from  books  and 
costly  apparatus  that  is  equal  to  that  which  can  be 
gotten  from  contact  with  great  men  and  women. 
Instead  of  studying  books  so  constantly,  how  I  wish 
that  our  schools  and  colleges  might  learn  to  study 
men  and  things  ! 

General  Armstrong  spent  two  of  the  last  six 
months  of  his  life  in  my  home  at  Tuskegee.  At 
that  time  he  was  paralyzed  to  the  extent  that  he  had 
lost  control  of  his  body  and  voice  in  a  very  large 
degree.  Notwithstanding  his  affliction,  he  worked 
almost  constantly  night  and   day  for  the   cause   to 


56  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

which  he  had  given  his  life.  I  never  saw  a  man 
who  so  completely  lost  sight  of  himself.  I  do  not 
believe  he  ever  had  a  selfish  thought.  He  was  just 
as  happy  in  trying  to  assist  some  other  institution 
in  the  South  as  he  was  when  working  for  Hampton. 
Although  he  fought  the  Southern  white  man  in  the 
Civil  War,  I  never  heard  him  utter  a  bitter  word 
against  him  afterward.  On  the  other  hand,  he  was 
constantly  seeking  to  find  ways  by  which  he  could 
be  of  service  to  the  Southern  whites. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  describe  the  hold  that  he 
had  upon  the  students  at  Hampton,  or  the  faith 
they  had  in  him.  In  fact,  he  was  worshipped  by  his 
students.  It  never  occurred  to  me  that  General 
Armstrong  could  fail  in  anything  that  he  undertook. 
There  is  almost  no  request  that  he  could  have  made 
that  would  not  have  been  complied  with.  When  he 
was  a  guest  at  my  home  in  Alabama,  and  was  so 
badly  paralyzed  that  he  had  to  be  wheeled  about  in 
an  invalid's  chair,  I  recall  that  one  of  the  General's 
former  students  had  occasion  to  push  his  chair  up 
a  long,  steep  hill  that  taxed  his  strength  to  the 
utmost.  When  the  top  of  the  hill  was  reached,  the 
former  pupil,  with  a  glow  of  happiness  on  his  face, 
exclaimed,  "  I  am  so  glad  that  I  have  been  permitted 
to  do  something  that  was  real  hard  for  the  General 
before  he  dies  ! "     While  I  was  a  student  at  Hamp- 


THE   STRUGGLE    FOR   AN    EDUCATION    57 

ton,  the  dormitories  became  so  crowded  that  it  was 
impossible  to  find  room  for  all  who  wanted  to  be 
admitted.  In  order  to  help  remedy  the  difficulty, 
the  General  conceived  the  plan  of  putting  up  tents 
to  be  used  as  rooms.  As  soon  as  it  became  known 
that  General  Armstrong  would  be  pleased  if  some 
of  the  older  students  would  live  in  the  tents  during 
the  winter,  nearly  every  student  in  school  volunteered 
to  go. 

I  was  one  of  the  volunteers.  The  winter  that  we 
spent  in  those  tents  was  an  intensely  cold  one,  and 
we  suffered  severely  —  how  much  I  am  sure  Gen- 
eral Armstrong  never  knew,  because  we  made  no 
complaints.  It  was  enough  for  us  to  know  that  we 
were  pleasing  General  Armstrong,  and  that  we  were 
making  it  possible  for  an  additional  number  of  stu- 
dents to  secure  an  education.  More  than  once, 
during  a  cold  night,  when  a  stiff  gale  would  be  blow- 
ing, our  tent  was  lifted  bodily,  and  we  would  find  our- 
selves in  the  open  air.  The  General  would  usually 
pay  a  visit  to  the  tents  early  in  the  morning,  and 
his  earnest,  cheerful,  encouraging  voice  would  dispel 
any  feeling  of  despondency. 

I  have  spoken  of  my  admiration  for  General 
Armstrong,  and  yet  he  was  but  a  type  of  that 
Christlike  body  of  men  and  women  who  went  into 
the  Negro  schools  at  the  close   of  the  war  by  the 


58  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

hundreds  to  assist  in  lifting  up  my  race.  The  his- 
tory of  the  world  fails  to  show  a  higher,  purer,  and 
more  unselfish  class  of  men  and  women  than  those 
who  found  their  way  into  those  Negro  schools. 

Life  at  Hampton  was  a  constant  revelation  to  me; 
was  constantly  taking  me  into  a  new  world.  The 
matter  of  having  meals  at  regular  hours,  of  eating 
on  a  tablecloth,  using  a  napkin,  the  use  of  the  bath- 
tub and  of  the  tooth-brush,  as  well  as  the  use  of 
sheets  upon  the  bed,  were  all  new  to  me. 

I  sometimes  feel  that  almost  the  most  valuable 
lesson  I  got  at  the  Hampton  Institute  was  in  the  use 
and  value  of  the  bath.  I  learned  there  for  the  first 
time  some  of  its  value,  not  only  in  keeping  the 
body  healthy,  but  in  inspiring  self-respect  and  pro- 
moting virtue.  In  all  my  travels  in  the  South  and 
elsewhere  since  leaving  Hampton  I  have  always  in 
some  way  sought  my  daily  bath.  To  get  it  some- 
times when  I  have  been  the  guest  of  my  own  people 
in  a  single-roomed  cabin  has  not  always  been  easy 
to  do,  except  by  slipping  away  to  some  stream  in 
the  woods.  I  have  always  tried  to  teach  my  people 
that  some  provision  for  bathing  should  be  a  part  of 
every  house. 

For  some  time,  while  a  student  at  Hampton,  I 
possessed  but  a  single  pair  of  socks,  but  when  I  had 
worn   these  till   they  became  soiled,  I  would  wash 


THE   STRUGGLE  FOR  AN  EDUCATION     59 

them  at  night  and  hang  them  by  the  fire  to   dry,  so 
that  I  might  wear  them  again  the  next  morning. 

The  charge  for  my  board  at  Hampton  was  ten 
dollars  per  month.  I  was  expected  to  pay  a  part 
of  this  in  cash  and  to  work  out  the  remainder.  To 
meet  this  cash  payment,  as  I  have  stated,  I  had 
just  fifty  cents  when  I  reached  the  institution. 
Aside  from  a  very  few  dollars  that  my  brother 
John  was  able  to  send  me  once  in  a  while,  I  had 
no  money  with  which  to  pay  my  board.  I  was 
determined  from  the  first  to  make  my  work  as 
janitor  so  valuable  that  my  services  would  be 
indispensable.  This  I  succeeded  in  doing  to  such 
an  extent  that  I  was  soon  informed  that  I  would 
be  allowed  the  full  cost  of  my  board  in  return  for 
my  work.  The  cost  of  tuition  was  seventy  dollars 
a  year.  This,  of  course,  was  wholly  beyond  my 
ability  to  provide.  If  I  had  been  compelled  to  pay 
the  seventy  dollars  for  tuition,  in  addition  to  pro- 
viding for  my  board,  I  would  have  been  compelled 
to  leave  the  Hampton  school.  General  Armstrong, 
however,  very  kindly  got  Mr.  S.  Griffitts  Morgan, 
of  New  Bedford,  Mass.,  to  defray  the  cost  of  my 
tuition  during  the  whole  time  that  I  was  at  Hamp- 
ton. After  I  finished  the  course  at  Hampton  and 
had  entered  upon  my  lifework  at  Tuskegee,  I  had 
the  pleasure  of  visiting  Mr.  Morgan  several  times. 


60  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

After  having  been  for  a  while  at  Hampton,  I 
found  myself  in  difficulty  because  I  did  not  have 
books  and  clothing.  Usually,  however,  I  got 
around  the  trouble  about  books  by  borrowing  from 
those  who  were  more  fortunate  than  myself.  As 
to  clothes,  when  I  reached  Hampton  I  had  practi- 
cally nothing.  Everything  that  I  possessed  was  in 
a  small  hand  satchel.  My  anxiety  about  clothing 
was  increased  because  of  the  fact  that  General  Arm- 
strong made  a  personal  inspection  of  the  young 
men  in  ranks,  to  see  that  their  clothes  were  clean. 
Shoes  had  to  be  polished,  there  must  be  no  buttons 
off  the  clothing,  and  no  grease-spots.  To  wear  one 
suit  of  clothes  continually,  while  at  work  and  in  the 
schoolroom,  and  at  the  same  time  keep  it  clean,  was 
rather  a  hard  problem  for  me  to  solve.  In  some 
way  I  managed  to  get  on  till  the  teachers  learned 
that  I  was  in  earnest  and  meant  to  succeed,  and 
then  some  of  them  were  kind  enough  to  see  that  I 
was  partly  supplied  with  second-hand  clothing  that 
had  been  sent  in  barrels  from  the  North.  These 
barrels  proved  a  blessing  to  hundreds  of  poor  but 
deserving  students.  Without  them  I  question 
whether  I  should  ever  have  gotten  through 
Hampton. 

When  I  first  went  to  Hampton  I  do  not  recall 
that  I  had  ever  slept  in  a  bed  that  had  two  sheets 


THE  STRUGGLE   FOR  AN  EDUCATION     61 

on  it.  In  those  days  there  were  not  many  build- 
ings there,  and  room  was  very  precious.  There 
were  seven  other  boys  in  the  same  room  with  me  ; 
most  of  them,  however,  students  who  had  been 
there  for  some  time.  The  sheets  were  quite  a  puz- 
zle to  me.  The  first  night  I  slept  under  both  of 
them,  and  the  second  night  I  slept  on  top  of  both 
of  them;  but  by  watching  the  other  boys  I  learned 
my  lesson  in  this,  and  have  been  trying  to  follow 
it  ever  since  and  to  teach  it  to  others. 

I  was  among  the  youngest  of  the  students  who 
were  in  Hampton  at  that  time.  Most  of  the  stu- 
dents were  men  and  women  —  some  as  old  as  forty 
years  of  age.  As  I  now  recall  the  scene  of  my  first 
year,  I  do  not  believe  that  one  often  has  the  oppor- 
tunity of  coming  into  contact  with  three  or  four 
hundred  men  and  women  who  were  so  tremendously 
in  earnest  as  these  men  and  women  were.  Every 
hour  was  occupied  in  study  or  work.  Nearly  all 
had  had  enough  actual  contact  with  the  world  to 
teach  them  the  need  of  education.  Many  of  the 
older  ones  were,  of  course,  too  old  to  master  the 
text-books  very  thoroughly,  and  it  was  often  sad 
to  watch  their  struggles ;  but  they  made  up  in 
earnestness  much  of  what  they  lacked  in  books. 
Many  of  them  were  as  poor  as  I  was,  and,  besides 
having    to  wrestle  with   their    books,   they  had   to 


62  UP    FROM    SLAVERY 

struggle  with  a  poverty  which  prevented  their  hav- 
ing the  necessities  of  life.  Many  of  them  had  aged 
parents  who  were  dependent  upon  them,  and  some 
of  them  were  men  who  had  wives  whose  support  in 
some  way  they  had  to  provide  for. 

The  great  and  prevailing  idea  that  seemed  to 
take  possession  of  every  one  was  to  prepare  him- 
self to  lift  up  the  people  at  his  home.  No  one 
seemed  to  think  of  himself.  And  the  officers  and 
teachers,  what  a  rare  set  of  human  beings  they 
were  !  They  worked  for  the  students  night  and 
day,  in  season  and  out  of  season.  They  seemed 
happy  only  when  they  were  helping  the  students 
in  some  manner.  Whenever  it  is  written  —  and  I 
hope  it  will  be  —  the  part  that  the  Yankee  teachers 
played  in  the  education  of  the  Negroes  immediately 
after  the  war  will  make  one  of  the  most  thrilling 
parts  of  the  history  of  this  country.  The  time  is 
not  far  distant  when  the  whole  South  will  appre- 
ciate this  service  in  a  way  that  it  has  not  yet  been 
able  to  do. 


CHAPTER    IV 


HELPING    OTHERS 


AT  the  end  of  my  first  year  at  Hampton  I  was 
confronted  with  another  difficulty.  Most 
"  of  the  students  went  home  to  spend  their 
vacation.  I  had  no  money  with  which  to  go  home, 
but  I  had  to  go  somewhere.  In  those  days  very 
few  students  were  permitted  to  remain  at  the  school 
during  vacation.  It  made  me  feel  very  sad  and 
homesick  to  see  the  other  students  preparing  to 
leave  and  starting  for  home.  I  not  only  had  no 
money  with  which  to  go  home,  but  I  had  none  with 
which  to  go  anywhere. 

In  some  way,  however,  I  had  gotten  hold  of  an 
extra,  second-hand  coat  which  I  thought  was  a 
pretty  valuable  coat.  This  I  decided  to  sell,  in 
order  to  get  a  little  money  for  travelling  expenses. 
I  had  a  good  deal  of  boyish  pride,  and  I  tried  to 
hide,  as  far  as  I  could,  from  the  other  students  the 
fact  that  I  had  no  money  and  nowhere  to  go.  I 
made  it  known  to  a  few  people  in  the  town  of 
Hampton  that  I  had  this  coat  to  sell,  and,  after  a 

63 


64  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

good  deal  of  persuading,  one  coloured  man  promised 
to  come  to  my  room  to  look  the  coat  over  and 
consider  the  matter  of  buying  it.  This  cheered  my 
drooping  spirits  considerably.  Early  the  next  morn- 
ing my  prospective  customer  appeared.  After  look- 
ing the  garment  over  carefully,  he  asked  me  how 
much  I  wanted  for  it.  I  told  him  I  thought  it  was 
worth  three  dollars.  He  seemed  to  agree  with  me 
as  to  price,  but  remarked  in  the  most  matter-of-fact 
way  :  "  I  tell  you  what  I  will  do  ;  I  will  take  the 
coat,  and  I  will  pay  you  five  cents,  cash  down,  and 
pay  you  the  rest  of  the  money  just  as  soon  as  I  can 
get  it."  It  is  not  hard  to  imagine  what  my  feelings 
were  at  the  time. 

With  this  disappointment  I  gave  up  all  hope  of 
getting  out  of  the  town  of  Hampton  for  my  vaca- 
tion work.  I  wanted  very  much  to  go  where  I 
might  secure  work  that  would  at  least  pay  me 
enough  to  purchase  some  much-needed  clothing 
and  other  necessities.  In  a  few  days  practically  all 
the  students  and  teachers  had  left  for  their  homes, 
and  this  served  to  depress  my  spirits  even  more. 

After  trying  for  several  days  in  and  near  the 
town  of  Hampton,  I  finally  secured  work  in  a  res- 
taurant at  Fortress  Monroe.  The  wages,  however, 
were  very  little  more  than  my  board.  At  night,  and 
between  meals,  I  found  considerable  time  for  study 


HELPING    OTHERS  65 

* 

and  reading  ;  and  in  this  direction  I  improved 
myself  very  much  during  the  summer. 

When  I  left  school  at  the  end  of  my  first  year,  I 
owed  the  institution  sixteen  dollars  that  I  had  not 
been  able  to  work  out.  It  was  my  greatest  ambi- 
tion during  the  summer  to  save  money  enough  with 
which  to  pay  this  debt.  I  felt  that  this  was  a  debt 
of  honour,  and  that  I  could  hardly  bring  myself  to 
the  point  of  even  trying  to  enter  school  again  till  it 
was  paid.  I  economized  in  every  way  that  I  could 
think  of —  did  my  own  washing,  and  went  without 
necessary  garments  —  but  still  I  found  my  summer 
vacation  ending  and  I  did  not  have  the  sixteen 
dollars. 

One  day,  during  the  last  week  of  my  stay  in  the 
restaurant,  I  found  under  one  of  the  tables  a  crisp, 
new  ten-dollar  bill.  I  could  hardly  contain  myself, 
I  was  so  happy.  As  it  was  not  my  place  of  busi- 
ness I  felt  it  to  be  the  proper  thing  to  show  the 
money  to  the  proprietor.  This  I  did.  He  seemed 
as  glad  as  I  was,  but  he  coolly  explained  to  me  that, 
as  it  was  his  place  of  business,  he  had  a  right  to 
keep  the  money,  and  he  proceeded  to  do  so.  This, 
I  confess,  was  another  pretty  hard  blow  to  me.  I 
will  not  say  that  I  became  discouraged,  for  as  I 
now  look  back  over  my  life  I  do  not  recall  that 
I  ever  became  discouraged  over  anything  that  I  set 


66  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

out  to  accomplish.  I  have  begun  everything  with 
the  idea  that  I  could  succeed,  and  I  never  had 
much  patience  with  the  multitudes  of  people  who 
are  always  ready  to  explain  why  one  cannot  succeed. 
I  have  always  had  a  high  regard  for  the  man  who 
could  tell  me  how  to  succeed.  I  determined  to  face 
the  situation  just  as  it  was.  At  the  end  of  the  week 
I  went  to  the  treasurer  of  the  Hampton  Institute, 
General  J.  F.  B.  Marshall,  and  told  him  frankly  my 
condition.  To  my  gratification  he  told  me  that  I 
could  reenter  the  institution,  and  that  he  would 
trust  me  to  pay  the  debt  when  I  could.  During 
the  second  year  I  continued  to  work  as  a  janitor. 

The  education  that  I  received  at  Hampton  out 
of  the  text-books  was  but  a  small  part  of  what  I 
learned  there.  One  of  the  things  that  impressed 
itself  upon  me  deeply,  the  second  year,  was  the 
unselfishness  of  the  teachers.  It  was  hard  for  me  to 
understand  how  any  individuals  could  bring  them- 
selves to  the  point  where  they  could  be  so  happy  in 
working  for  others.  Before  the  end  of  the  year,  I 
think  I  began  learning  that  those  who  are  happiest 
are  those  who  do  the  most  for  others.  This  lesson 
I  have  tried  to  carry  with  me  ever  since. 

I  also  learned  a  valuable  lesson  at  Hampton  by 
coming  into  contact  with  the  best  breeds  of  live 
stock  and  fowls.     No  student,  I  think,  who  has  had 


HELPING    OTHERS  67 

the  opportunity  of  doing  this  could  go  out  into  the 
world  and  content  himself  with  the  poorest  grades. 

Perhaps  the  most  valuable  thing  that  I  got  out 
of  my  second  year  was  an  understanding  of  the  use 
and  value  of  the  Bible.  Miss  Nathalie  Lord,  one 
of  the  teachers,  from  Portland,  Me.,  taught  me  how 
to  use  and  love  the  Bible.  Before  this  I  had  never 
cared  a  great  deal  about  it,  but  now  I  learned  to 
love  to  read  the  Bible,  not  only  for  the  spiritual 
help  which  it  gives,  but  on  account  of  it  as  literature. 
The  lessons  taught  me  in  this  respect  took  such  a 
hold  upon  me  that  at  the  present  time,  when  I  am 
at  home,  no  matter  how  busy  I  am,  I  always  make  it 
a  rule  to  read  a  chapter  or  a  portion  of  a  chapter  in 
the  morning,  before  beginning  the  work  of  the  day. 

Whatever  ability  I  may  have  as  a  public  speaker  I 
owe  in  a  measure  to  Miss  Lord.  When  she  found 
out  that  I  had  some  inclination  in  this  direction, 
she  gave  me  private  lessons  in  the  matter  of  breath- 
ing, emphasis,  and  articulation.  Simply  to  be  able  to 
talk  in  public  for  the  sake  of  talking  has  never  had 
the  least  attraction  for  me.  In  fact,  I  consider  that 
there  is  nothing  so  empty  and  unsatisfactory  as 
mere  abstract  public  speaking ;  but  from  my  early 
childhood  I  have  had  a  desire  to  do  something  to 
make  the  world  better,  and  then  to  be  able  to 
speak  to  the  world  about  that  thing. 


68  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

The  debating  societies  at  Hampton  were  a  con- 
stant source  of  delight  to  me.  These  were  held 
on  Saturday  evening ;  and  during  my  whole  life  at 
Hampton  I  do  not  recall  that  I  missed  a  single 
meeting.  I  not  only  attended  the  weekly  debating 
society,  but  was  instrumental  in  organizing  an  addi- 
tional society.  I  noticed  that  between  the  time 
when  supper  was  over  and  the  time  to  begin  even- 
ing study  there  were  about  twenty  minutes  which 
the  young  men  usually  spent  in  idle  gossip.  About 
twenty  of  us  formed  a  society  for  the  purpose  of 
utilizing  this  time  in  debate  or  in  practice  in  public 
speaking.  Few  persons  ever  derived  more  happi- 
ness or  benefit  from  the  use  of  twenty  minutes  of 
time  than  we  did  in  this  way. 

At  the  end  of  my  second  year  at  Hampton,  by 
the  help  of  some  money  sent  me  by  my  mother 
and  brother  John,  supplemented  by  a  small  gift 
from  one  of  the  teachers  at  Hampton,  I  was  enabled 
to  return  to  my  home  in  Maiden,  West  Virginia, 
to  spend  my  vacation.  When  I  reached  home  I 
found  that  the  salt-furnaces  were  not  running,  and 
that  the  coal-mine -was  not  being  operated  on  ac- 
count of  the  miners  being  out  on  a  "  strike."  This 
was  something  which,  it  seemed,  usually  occurred 
whenever  the  men  got  two  or  three  months  ahead 
in  their  savings.      During  the  strike,  of  course,  they 


HELPING   OTHERS  69 

spent  all  that  they  had  saved,  and  would  often 
return  to  work  in  debt  at  the  same  wages,  or  would 
move  to  another  mine  at  considerable  expense.  In 
either  case,  my  observations  convinced  me  that  the 
miners  were  worse  off  at  the  end  of  a  strike.  Be- 
fore the  days  of  strikes  in  that  section  of  the  coun- 
try, I  knew  miners  who  had  considerable  money 
in  the  bank,  but  as  soon  as  the  professional  labour 
agitators  got  control,  the  savings  of  even  the  more 
thrifty  ones  began  disappearing. 

My  mother  and  the  other  members  of  the  family 
were,  of  course,  much  rejoiced  to  see  me  and  to 
note  the  improvement  that  I  had  made  during  my 
two  years'  absence.  The  rejoicing  on  the  part  of 
all  classes  of  the  coloured  people,  and  especially  the 
older  ones,  over  my  return,  was  almost  pathetic. 
I  had  to  pay  a  visit  to  each  family  and  take  a  meal 
with  each,  and  at  each  place  tell  the  story  of  my 
experiences  at  Hampton.  In  addition  to  this  I 
had  to  speak  before  the  church  and  Sunday-school, 
and  at  various  other  places.  The  thing  that  I  was 
most  in  search  of,  though,  work,  I  could  not  find. 
There  was  no  work  on  account  of  the  strike.  I 
spent  nearly  the  whole  of  the  first  month  of  my  va- 
cation in  an  effort  to  find  something  to  do  by  which 
I  could  earn  money  to  pay  my  wav  back  to  Hampton 
and  save  a  little  money  to  use  after  reaching  there. 


70  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

Toward  the  end  of  the  first  month,  I  went  to  a 
place  a  considerable  distance  from  my  home,  to  try- 
to  find  employment.  I  did  not  succeed,  and  it  was 
night  before  I  got  started  on  my  return.  When  I 
had  gotten  within  a  mile  or  so  of  my  home  I  was 
so  completely  tired  out  that  I  could  not  walk  any 
farther,  and  I  went  into  an  old,  abandoned  house 
to  spend  the  remainder  of  the  night.  About  three 
o'clock  in  the  morning  my  brother  John  found  me 
asleep  in  this  house,  and  broke  to  me,  as  gently  as 
he  could,  the  sad  news  that  our  dear  mother  had 
died  during  the  night. 

This  seemed  to  me  the  saddest  and  blankest 
moment  in  my  life.  For  several  years  my  mother 
had  not  been  in  good  health,  but  I  had  no  idea, 
when  I  parted  from  her  the  previous  day,  that  I 
should  never  see  her  alive  again.  Besides  that,  I 
had  always  had  an  intense  desire  to  be  with  her 
when  she  did  pass  away.  One  of  the  chief  ambi- 
tions which  spurred  me  on  at  Hampton  was  that 
I  might  be  able  to  get  to  be  in  a  position  in  which 
I  could  better  make  my  mother  comfortable  and 
happy.  She  had  so  often  expressed  the  wish  that 
she  might  be  permitted  to  live  to  see  her  children 
educated  and  started  out  into  the  world. 

In  a  very  short  time  after  the  death  of  my 
mother    our    little    home    was    in    confusion.      My 


HELPING    OTHERS  71 

sister  Amanda,  although  she  tried  to  do  the  best 
she  could,  was  too  young  to  know  anything  about 
keeping  house,  and  my  stepfather  was  not  able  to 
hire  a  housekeeper.  Sometimes  we  had  food  cooked 
for  us,  and  sometimes  we  did  not.  I  remember 
that  more  than  once  a  can  of  tomatoes  and  some 
crackers  constituted  a  meal.  Our  clothing  went 
uncared  for,  and  everything  about  our  home  was 
soon  in  a  tumble-down  condition.  It  seems  to  me 
that  this  was  the  most  dismal  period  of  my  life. 

My  good  friend  Mrs.  RufFner,  to  whom  I  have 
already  referred,  always  made  me  welcome  at  her 
home,  and  assisted  me  in  many  ways  during  this  try- 
ing period.  Before  the  end  of  the  vacation  she  gave 
me  some  work,  and  this,  together  with  work  in  a 
coal-mine  at  some  distance  from  my  home,  enabled 
me  to  earn  a  little  money. 

At  one  time  it  looked  as  if  I  would  have  to  give 
up  the  idea  of  returning  to  Hampton,  but  my  heart 
was  so  set  on  returning  that  I  determined  not  to  give 
up  going  back  without  a  struggle.  I  was  very  anx- 
ious to  secure  some  clothes  for  the  winter,  but  in 
this  I  was  disappointed,  except  for  a  few  garments 
which  my  brother  John  secured  for  me.  Notwith- 
standing my  need  of  money  and  clothing,  I  was  very 
happy  in  the  fact  that  I  had  secured  enough  money 
to  pay  my   travelling  expenses   back   to   Hampton. 


72  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

Once  there,  I  knew  that  I  could  make  myself  so 
useful  as  a  janitor  that  I  could  in  some  way  get 
through  the  school  year. 

Three  weeks  before  the  time  for  the  opening  of 
the  term  at  Hampton,  I  was  pleasantly  surprised  to 
receive  a  letter  from  my  good  friend  Miss  Mary  F. 
Mackie,  the  lady  principal,  asking  me  to  return  to 
Hampton  two  weeks  before  the  opening  of  the 
school,  in  order  that  I  might  assist  her  in  cleaning 
the  buildings  and  getting  things  in  order  for  the  new 
school  year.  This  was  just  the  opportunity  I  wanted. 
It  gave  me  a  chance  to  secure  a  credit  in  the  treas- 
urer's office.     I  started  for  Hampton  at  once. 

During  these  two  weeks  I  was  taught  a  lesson 
which  I  shall  never  forget.  Miss  Mackie  was  a 
member  of  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  cultured 
families  of  the  North,  and  yet  for  two  weeks  she 
worked  by  my  side  cleaning  windows,  dusting  rooms, 
putting  beds  in  order,  and  what  not.  She  felt  that 
things  would  not  be  in  condition  for  the  opening  of 
school  unless  every  window-pane  was  perfectly  clean, 
and  she  took  the  greatest  satisfaction  in  helping  to 
clean  them  herself.  The  work  which  I  have  de- 
scribed she  did  every  year  that  I  was  at  Hampton. 

It  was  hard  for  me  at  this  time  to  understand  how 
a  woman  of  her  education  and  social  standing  could 
take  such  delight  in  performing  such  service,  in  order 


HELPING    OTHERS  73 

to  assist  in  the  elevation  of  an  unfortunate  race. 
Ever  since  then  I  have  had  no  patience  with  any 
school  for  my  race  in  the  South  which  did  not  teach 
its  students  the  dignity  of  labour. 

During  my  last  year  at  Hampton  every  minute  of 
my  time  that  was  not  occupied  with  my  duties  as 
janitor  was  devoted  to  hard  study.  I  was  deter- 
mined, if  possible,  to  make  such  a  record  in  my 
class  as  would  cause  me  to  be  placed  on  the  "  honour 
roll "  of  Commencement  speakers.  This  I  was 
successful  in  doing.  It  was  June  of  1875  when  I 
finished  the  regular  course  of  study  at  Hampton. 
The  greatest  benefits  that  I  got  out  of  my  life  at  the 
Hampton  Institute,  perhaps,  may  be  classified  under 
two  heads  :  — 

First  was  contact  with  a  great  man,  General  S.  C. 
Armstrong,  who,  I  repeat,  was,  in  my  opinion,  the 
rarest,  strongest,  and  most  beautiful  character  that  it 
has  ever  been  my  privilege  to  meet. 

Second,  at  Hampton,  for  the  first  time,  I  learned 
what  education  was  expected  to  do  for  an  individual. 
Before  going  there  I  had  a  good  deal  of  the  then 
rather  prevalent  idea  among  our  people  that  to  se- 
cure an  education  meant  to  have  a  good,  easy  time, 
free  from  all  necessity  for  manual  labour.  At  Hamp- 
ton I  not  only  learned  that  it  was  not  a  disgrace  to 
labour,  but  learned  to  love  labour,  not  alone  for  its 


74  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

financial  value,  but  for  labour's  own  sake  and  for  the 
independence  and  self-reliance  which  the  ability  to 
do  something  which  the  world  wants  done  brings. 
At  that  institution  I  got  my  first  taste  of  what  it 
meant  to  live  a  life  of  unselfishness,  my  first  knowl- 
edge of  the  fact  that  the  happiest  individuals  are 
those  who  do  the  most  to  make  others  useful  and 
happy. 

I  was  completely  out  of  money  when  I  graduated. 
In  company  with  other  Hampton  students,  I  secured 
a  place  as  a  table  waiter  in  a  summer  hotel  in  Con- 
necticut, and  managed  to  borrow  enough  money  with 
which  to  get  there.  I  had  not  been  in  this  hotel 
long  before  I  found  out  that  I  knew  practically  noth- 
ing about  waiting  on  a  hotel  table.  The  head 
waiter,  however,  supposed  that  I  was  an  accomplished 
waiter.  He  soon  gave  me  charge  of  a  table  at 
which  there  sat  four  or  five  wealthy  and  rather  aris- 
tocratic people.  My  ignorance  of  how  to  wait  upon 
them  was  so  apparent  that  they  scolded  me  in  such 
a  severe  manner  that  I  became  frightened  and  left 
their  table,  leaving  them  sitting  there  without  food. 
As  a  result  of  this  I  was  reduced  from  the  position 
of  waiter  to  that  of  a  dish-carrier. 

But  I  determined  to  learn  the  business  of  wait- 
ing, and  did  so  within  a  few  weeks  and  was  restored 
to  my  former  position.     I  have  had  the  satisfaction 


HELPING   OTHERS  75 

of  being  a  guest  in  this  hotel  several  times  since 
I  was  a  waiter  there. 

At  the  close  of  the  hotel  season  I  returned  to  my 
former  home  in  Maiden,  and  was  elected  to  teach  the 
coloured  school  at  that  place.  This  was  the  begin- 
ning of  one  of  the  happiest  periods  of  my  life.  I  now 
felt  that  I  had  the  opportunity  to  help  the  people  of 
my  home  town  to  a  higher  life.  I  felt  from  the  first 
that  mere  book  education  was  not  all  that  the  young 
people  of  that  town  needed.  I  began  my  work  at 
eight  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and,  as  a  rule,  it  did 
not  end  until  ten  o'clock  at  night.  In  addition  to 
the  usual  routine  of  teaching,  I  taught  the  pupils  to 
comb  their  hair,  and  to  keep  their  hands  and  faces 
clean,  as  well  as  their  clothing.  I  gave  special 
attention  to  teaching  them  the  proper  use  of  the 
tooth-brush  and  the  bath.  In  all  my  teaching  I  have 
watched  carefully  the  influence  of  the  tooth-brush, 
and  I  am  convinced  that  there  are  few  single 
agencies  of  civilization  that  are  more  far-reaching. 

There  were  so  many  of  the  older  boys  and  girls 
in  the  town,  as  well  as  men  and  women,  who  had 
to  work  in  the  daytime  but  still  were  craving  an 
opportunity  for  some  education,  that  I  soon  opened 
a  night-school.  From  the  first,  this  was  crowded 
every  night,  being  about  as  large  as  the  school 
that  I  taught  in  the  day.     The  efforts  of  some  of 


76  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

the  men  and  women,  who  in  many  cases  were  over 
fifty  years  of  age,  to  learn,  were  in  some  cases  very 
pathetic. 

My  day  and  night  school  work  was  not  all  that  I 
undertook.  I  established  a  small  reading-room  and 
a  debating  society.  On  Sundays  I  taught  two 
Sunday-schools,  one  in  the  town  of  Maiden  in  the 
afternoon,  and  the  other  in  the  morning  at  a  place 
three  miles  distant  from  Maiden.  In  addition  to 
this,  I  gave  private  lessons  to  several  young  men 
whom  I  was  fitting  to  send  to  the  Hampton  Insti- 
tute. Without  regard  to  pay  and  with  little  thought 
of  it,  I  taught  any  one  who  wanted  to  learn  any- 
thing that  I  could  teach  him.  I  was  supremely 
happy  in  the  opportunity  of  being  able  to  assist 
somebody  else.  I  did  receive,  however,  a  small 
salary  from  the  public  fund,  for  my  work  as  a  public- 
school  teacher. 

During  the  time  that  I  was  a  student  at  Hampton 
my  older  brother,  John,  not  only  assisted  me  all  that 
he  could,  but  worked  all  of  the  time  in  the  coal-mines 
in  order  to  support  the  family.  He  willingly  neg- 
lected his  own  education  that  he  might  help  me. 
It  was  my  earnest  wish  to  help  him  to  prepare  to 
enter  Hampton,  and  to  save  money  to  assist  him  in 
his  expenses  there.  Both  of  these  objects  I  was 
successful    in    accomplishing.       In   three  years  my 


HELPING    OTHERS  77 

brother  finished  the  course  at  Hampton,  and  he  is 
now  holding  the  important  position  of  Superintend- 
ent of  Industries  at  Tuskegee.  When  he  returned 
from  Hampton,  we  both  combined  our  efforts  and 
savings  to  send  our  adopted  brother,  James,  through 
the  Hampton  Institute.  This  we  succeeded  in 
doing,  and  he  is  now  the  postmaster  at  the  Tus- 
kegee Institute.  The  year  1877,  which  was  my 
second  year  of  teaching  in  Maiden,  I  spent  very 
much  as  I  did  the  first. 

It  was  while  my  home  was  at  Maiden  that  what 
was  known  as  the  "  Ku  Klux  Klan "  was  in  the 
height  of  its  activity.  The  "  Ku  Klux"  were  bands 
of  men  who  had  joined  themselves  together  for  the 
purpose  of  regulating  the  conduct  of  the  coloured 
people,  especially  with  the  object  of  preventing  the 
members  of  the  race  from  exercising  any  influ- 
ence in  politics.  They  corresponded  somewhat  to 
the  "  patrollers  "  of  whom  I  used  to  hear  a  great 
deal  during  the  days  of  slavery,  when  I  was  a  small 
boy.  The  "patrollers"  were  bands  of  white  men 
—  usually  young  men  —  who  were  organized  largely 
for  the  purpose  of  regulating  the  conduct  of  the 
slaves  at  night  in  such  matters  as  preventing  the 
slaves  from  going  from  one  plantation  to  another 
without  passes,  and  for  preventing  them  from  hold- 
ing any  kind  of  meetings  without  permission  and 


78  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

without  the  presence  at  these  meetings  of  at  least 
one  white  man. 

Like  the  "  patrollers  "  the  "  Ku  Klux  "  operated 
almost  wholly  at  night.  They  were,  however,  more 
cruel  than  the  "  patrollers."  Their  objects,  in  the 
main,  were  to  crush  out  the  political  aspirations  of 
the  Negroes,  but  they  did  not  confine  themselves 
to  this,  because  schoolhouses  as  well  as  churches 
were  burned  by  them,  and  many  innocent  persons 
were  made  to  suffer.  During  this  period  not  a 
few  coloured  people  lost  their  lives.  . 

As  a  young  man,  the  acts  of  these  lawless  bands 
made  a  great  impression  upon  me.  I  saw  one  open 
battle  take  place  at  Maiden  between  some  of  the 
coloured  and  white  people.  There  must  have  been 
not  far  from  a  hundred  persons  engaged  on  each 
side ;  many  on  both  sides  were  seriously  injured, 
among  them  being  General  Lewis  Ruffner,  the  hus- 
band of  my  friend  Mrs.  Viola  Ruffner.  General 
Ruffner  tried  to  defend  the  coloured  people,  and  for 
this  he  was  knocked  down  and  so  seriously  wounded 
that  he  never  completely  recovered.  It  seemed  to 
me  as  I  watched  this  struggle  between  members  of 
the  two  races,  that  there  was  no  hope  for  our  people 
in  this  country.  The  "  Ku  Klux "  period  was,  I 
think,  the  darkest  part  of  the  Reconstruction  days. 

I  have  referred  to  this  unpleasant  part  of  the  his- 


HELPING    OTHERS  79 

tory  of  the  South  simply  for  the  purpose  of  calling 
attention  to  the  great  change  that  has  taken  place 
since  the  days  of  the  "  Ku  Klux."  To-day  there 
are  no  such  organizations  in  the  South,  and  the  fact 
that  such  ever  existed  is  almost  forgotten  by  both 
races.  There  are  few  places  in  the  South  now  where 
public  sentiment  would  permit  such  organizations 
to  exist. 


CHAPTER   V 

THE    RECONSTRUCTION    PERIOD 

THE  years  from  1867  to  1878  I  think  may 
be  called  the  period  of  Reconstruction. 
This  included  the  time  that  I  spent  as  a 
student  at  Hampton  and  as  a  teacher  in  West 
Virginia.  During  the  whole  of  the  Reconstruction 
period  two  ideas  were  constantly  agitating  the  minds 
of  the  coloured  people,  or,  at  least,  the  minds  of  a 
large  part  of  the  race.  One  of  these  was  the  craze 
for  Greek  and  Latin  learning,  and  the  other  was  a 
desire  to  hold  office. 

It  could  not  have  been  expected  that  a  people 
who  had  spent  generations  in  slavery,  and  before 
that  generations  in  the  darkest  heathenism,  could  at 
first  form  any  proper  conception  of  what  an  educa- 
tion meant.  In  every  part  of  the  South,  during  the 
Reconstruction  period,  schools,  both  day  and  night, 
were  filled  to  overflowing  with  people  of  all  ages  and 
conditions,  some  being  as  far  along  in  age  as  sixty 
and  seventy  years.  The  ambition  to  secure  an  edu- 
cation was  most  praiseworthy  and  encouraging.    The 

80 


THE    RECONSTRUCTION    PERIOD         81 

idea,  however,  was  too  prevalent  that,  as  soon  as  one 
secured  a  little  education,  in  some  unexplainable  way 
he  would  be  free  from  most  of  the  hardships  of  the 
world,  and,  at  any  rate,  could  live  without  manual 
labour.  There  was  a  further  feeling  that  a  knowledge, 
however  little,  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  languages  would 
make  one  a  verv  superior  human  being,  something 
bordering  almost  on  the  supernatural.  I  remember 
that  the  first  coloured  man  whom  I  saw  who  knew 
something  about  foreign  languages  impressed  me  at 
that  time  as  being  a  man  of  all  others  to  be  envied. 

Naturally,  most  of  our  people  who  received  some 
little  education  became  teachers  or  preachers.  While 
among  these  two  classes  there  were  many  capable, 
earnest,  godly  men  and  women,  still  a  large  propor- 
tion took  up  teaching  or  preaching  as  an  easy  way 
to  make  a  living.  Many  became  teachers  who  could 
do  little  more  than  write  their  names.  I  remember 
there  came  into  our  neighbourhood  one  of  this  class, 
who  was  in  search  of  a  school  to  teach,  and  the 
question  arose  while  he  was  there  as  to  the  shape  of 
the  earth  and  how  he  would  teach  the  children  con- 
cerning this  subject.  He  explained  his  position  in 
the  matter  by  saying  that  he  was  prepared  to  teach 
that  the  earth  was  either  flat  or  round,  according  to 
the  preference  of  a  majority  of  his  patrons. 

The    ministry  was   the    profession    that   suffered 


82  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

most — and  still  suffers,  though  there  has  been  great 
improvement  —  on  account  of  not  only  ignorant 
but  in  many  cases  immoral  men  who  claimed  that 
they  were  "  called  to  preach."  In  the  earlier  days 
of  freedom  almost  every  coloured  man  who  learned 
to  read  would  receive  "  a  call  to  preach  "  within  a 
few  days  after  he  began  reading.  At  my  home  in 
West  Virginia  the  process  of  being  called  to  the 
ministry  was  a  very  interesting  one.  Usually  the 
"  call "  came  when  the  individual  was  sitting  in 
church.  Without  warning  the  one  called  would  fall 
upon  the  floor  as  if  struck  by  a  bullet,  and  would  lie 
there  for  hours,  speechless  and  motionless.  Then  the 
news  would  spread  all  through  the  neighbourhood 
that  this  individual  had  received  a  "  call."  If  he 
were  inclined  to  resist  the  summons,  he  would  fall 
or  be  made  to  fall  a  second  or  third  time.  In  the 
end  he  always  yielded  to  the  call.  While  I  wanted 
an  education  badly,  I  confess  that  in  my  youth  I 
had  a  fear  that  when  I  had  learned  to  read  and 
write  well  I  would  receive  one  of  these  "  calls  "  ;  but, 
for  some  reason,  my  call  never  came. 

When  we  add  the  number  of  wholly  ignorant  men 
who  preached  or  "  exhorted  "  to  that  of  those  who 
possessed  something  of  an  education,  it  can  be  seen 
at  a  glance  that  the  supply  of  ministers  was  large. 
In  fact,  some  time  ago  I  knew  a  certain  church  that 


THE    RECONSTRUCTION    PERIOD        83 

had  a  total  membership  of  about  two  hundred,  and 
eighteen  of  that  number  were  ministers.  But,  I  re- 
peat, in  many  communities  in  the  South  the  character 
of  the  ministry  is  being  improved,  and  I  believe  that 
within  the  next  two  or  three  decades  a  very  large 
proportion  of  the  unworthy  ones  will  have  disap- 
peared. The  "  calls  "  to  preach,  I  am  glad  to  say, 
are  not  nearly  so  numerous  now  as  they  were  for- 
merly, and  the  calls  to  some  industrial  occupation  are 
growing  more  numerous.  The  improvement  that 
has  taken  place  in  the  character  of  the  teachers  is 
even  more  marked  than  in  the  case  of  the  ministers. 

During  the  whole  of  the  Reconstruction  period 
our  people  throughout  the  South  looked  to  the  Fed- 
eral Government  for  everything,  very  much  as  a 
child  looks  to  its  mother.  This  was  not  unnatural. 
The  central  government  gave  them  freedom,  and  the 
whole  Nation  had  been  enriched  for  more  than  two 
centuries  by  the  labour  of  the  Negro.  Even  as  a 
youth,  and  later  in  manhood,  I  had  the  feeling  that 
it  was  cruelly  wrong  in  the  central  government,  at 
the  beginning  of  our  freedom,  to  fail  to  make  some 
provision  for  the  general  education  of  our  people  in 
addition  to  what  the  states  might  do,  so  that  the 
people  would  be  the  better  prepared  for  the  duties  of 
citizenship. 

It  is  easy  to  find  fault,  to  remark  what  might  have 


84  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

been  done,  and  perhaps,  after  all,  and  under  all  the 
circumstances,  those  in  charge  of  the  conduct  of 
affairs  did  the  only  thing  that  could  be  done  at  the 
time.  Still,  as  I  look  back  now  over  the  entire 
period  of  our  freedom,  I  cannot  help  feeling  that  it 
would  have  been  wiser  if  some  plan  could  have  been 
put  in  operation  which  would  have  made  the  posses- 
sion of  a  certain  amount  of  education  or  property, 
or  both,  a  test  for  the  exercise  of  the  franchise,  and 
a  way  provided  by  which  this  test  should  be  made 
to  apply  honestly  and  squarely  to  both  the  white 
and  black  races. 

Though  I  was  but  little  more  than  a  youth  dur- 
ing the  period  of  Reconstruction,  I  had  the  feeling 
that  mistakes  were  being  made,  and  that  things  could 
not  remain  in  the  condition  that  they  were  in  then 
very  long.  I  felt  that  the  Reconstruction  policy,  so 
far  as  it  related  to  my  race,  was  in  a  large  measure 
on  a  false  foundation,  was  artificial  and  forced.  In 
many  cases  it  seemed  to  me  that  the  ignorance  of 
my  race  was  being  used  as  a  tool  with  which  to  help 
white  men  into  office,  and  that  there  was  an  element 
in  the  North  which  wanted  to  punish  the  Southern 
white  men  by  forcing  the  Negro  into  positions 
over  the  heads  of  the  Southern  whites.  I  felt  that 
the  Negro  would  be  the  one  to  suffer  for  this  in  the 
end.      Besides,  the  general  political  agitation  drew 


THE    RECONSTRUCTION    PERIOD         85 

the  attention  of  our  people  away  from  the  more  fun- 
damental matters  of  perfecting  themselves  in  the 
industries  at  their  doors  and  in  securing  property. 

The  temptations  to  enter  political  life  were  so  al- 
luring that  I  came  very  near  yielding  to  them  at  one 
time,  but  I  was  kept  from  doing  so  by  the  feeling 
that  I  would  be  helping  in  a  more  substantial  way  by 
assisting  in  the  laying  of  the  foundation  of  the  race 
through  a  generous  education  of  the  hand,  head,  and 
heart.  I  saw  coloured  men  who  were  members  of  the 
state  legislatures,  and  county  officers,  who,  in  some 
cases,  could  not  read  or  write,  and  whose  morals 
were  as  weak  as  their  education.  Not  long  ago, 
when  passing  through  the  streets  of  a  certain  city  in 
the  South,  I  heard  some  brick-masons  calling  out, 
from  the  top  of  a  two-story  brick  building  on  which 
they  were  working,  for  the  "  Governor  "  to  "  hurry 
up  and  bring  up  some  more  bricks."  Several  times 
I  heard  the  command,  cc  Hurry  up,  Governor ! " 
"Hurry  up,  Governor ! "  My  curiosity  was  aroused 
to  such  an  extent  that  I  made  inquiry  as  to  who  the 
"  Governor "  was,  and  soon  found  that  he  was  a 
coloured  man  who  at  one  time  had  held  the  position 
of  Lieutenant-Governor  of  his  state. 

But  not  all  the  coloured  people  who  were  in  office 
during  Reconstruction  were  unworthy  of  their 
positions,  by  any  means.      Some  of  them,  like   the 


86  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

late  Senator  B.  K.  Bruce,  Governor  Pinchback,  and 
many  others,  were  strong,  upright,  useful  men. 
Neither  were  all  the  class  designated  as  carpetbag- 
gers dishonourable  men.  Some  of  them,  like  ex- 
Governor  Bullock,  of  Georgia,  were  men  of  high 
character  and   usefulness. 

Of  course  the  coloured  people,  so  largely  without 
education,  and  wholly  without  experience  in  govern- 
ment, made  tremendous  mistakes,  just  as  any  peo- 
ple similarly  situated  would  have  done.  Many  of 
the  Southern  whites  have  a  feeling  that,  if  the 
Negro  is  permitted  to  exercise  his  political  rights 
now  to  any  degree,  the  mistakes  of  the  Reconstruc- 
tion period  will  repeat  themselves.  I  do  not  think 
this  would  be  true,  because  the  Negro  is  a  much 
stronger  and  wiser  man  than  he  was  thirty-five 
years  ago,  and  he  is  fast  learning  the  lesson  that  he 
cannot  afford  to  act  in  a  manner  that  will  alienate 
his  Southern  white  neighbours  from  him.  More 
and  more  I  am  convinced  that  the  final  solution  of 
the  political  end  of  our  race  problem  will  be  for 
each  state  that  finds  it  necessary  to  change  the  law 
bearing  upon  the  franchise  to  make  the  law  apply 
with  absolute  honesty,  and  without  opportunity  for 
double  dealing  or  evasion,  to  both  races  alike.  Any 
other  course  my  daily  observation  in  the  South 
convinces  me,  will  be  unjust  to  the   Negro,  unjust 


THE    RECONSTRUCTION    PERIOD         87 

to  the  white  man,  and  unfair  to  the  rest  of  the 
states  in  the  Union,  and  will  be,  like  slavery,  a  sin 
that  at  some  time  we  shall  have  to  pay  for. 

In  the  fall  of  1878,  after  having  taught  school  in 
Maiden  for  two  years,  and  after  I  had  succeeded  in 
preparing  several  of  the  young  men  and  women, 
besides  my  two  brothers,  to  enter  the  Hampton 
Institute,  I  decided  to  spend  some  months  in  study 
at  Washington,  D.C.  I  remained  there  for  eight 
months.  I  derived  a  great  deal  of  benefit  from 
the  studies  which  I  pursued,  and  I  came  into  con- 
tact with  some  strong  men  and  women.  At  the 
institution  I  attended  there  was  no  industrial  train- 
ing given  to  the  students,  and  I  had  an  opportunity 
of  comparing  the  influence  of  an  institution  with  no 
industrial  training  with  that  of  one  like  the  Hamp- 
ton Institute,  that  emphasized  the  industries.  At 
this  school  I  found  the  students,  in  most  cases,  had 
more  money,  were  better  dressed,  wore  the  latest 
style  of  all  manner  of  clothing,  and  in  some  cases 
were  more  brilliant  mentally.  At  Hampton  it  was 
a  standing  rule  that,  while  the  institution  would  be 
responsible  for  securing  some  one  to  pay  the  tuition 
for  the  students,  the  men  and  women  themselves  must 
provide  for  their  own  board,  books,  clothing,  and 
room  wholly  by  work,  or  partly  by  work  and  partly 
in  cash.     At  the  institution  at  which  I  now  was,  I 


88  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

found  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  students  by 
some  means  had  their  personal  expenses  paid  for 
them.  At  Hampton  the  student  was  constantly- 
making  the  effort  through  the  industries  to  help 
himself,  and  that  very  effort  was  of  immense  value 
in  character-building.  The  students  at  the  other 
school  seemed  to  be  less  self-dependent.  They 
seemed  to  give  more  attention  to  mere  outward 
appearances.  In  a  word,  they  did  not  appear  to 
me  to  be  beginning  at  the  bottom,  on  a  real, 
solid  foundation,  to  the  extent  that  they  were  at 
Hampton.  They  knew  more  about  Latin  and 
Greek  when  they  left  school,  but  they  seemed  to 
know  less  about  life  and  its  conditions  as  they 
would  meet  it  at  their  homes.  Having  lived  for 
a  number  of  years  in  the  midst  of  comfortable  sur- 
roundings, they  were  not  as  much  inclined  as  the 
Hampton  students  to  go  into  the  country  districts 
of  the  South,  where  there  was  little  of  comfort,  to 
take  up  work  for  our  people,  and  they  were  more 
inclined  to  yield  to  the  temptation  to  become  hotel 
waiters  and  Pullman-car  porters  as  their  life-work. 

During  the  time  I  was  a  student  in  Washington 
the  city  was  crowded  with  coloured  people,  many  of 
whom  had  recently  come  from  the  South.  A  large 
proportion  of  these  people  had  been  drawn  to 
Washington  because  they  felt  that  they  could  lead 


THE    RECONSTRUCTION   PERIOD        89 

a  life  of  ease  there.  Others  had  secured  minor 
government  positions,  and  still  another  large  class 
was  there  in  the  hope  of  securing  Federal  positions. 
A  number  of  coloured  men  —  some  of  them  very- 
strong  and  brilliant  —  were  in  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives at  that  time,  and  one,  the  Hon.  B.  K. 
Bruce,  was  in  the  Senate.  All  this  tended  to  make 
Washington  an  attractive  place  for  members  of  the 
coloured  race.  Then,  too,  they  knew  that  at  all 
times  they  could  have  the  protection  of  the  law  in 
the  District  of  Columbia.  The  public  schools  in 
Washington  for  coloured  people  were  better  then 
than  they  were  elsewhere.  I  took  great  interest  in 
studying  the  life  of  our  people  there  closely  at  that 
time.  I  found  that  while  among  them  there  was  a 
large  element  of  substantial,  worthy  citizens,  there 
was  also  a  superficiality  about  the  life  of  a  large 
class  that  greatly  alarmed  me.  I  saw  young  coloured 
men  who  were  not  earning  more  than  four  dollars  a 
week  spend  two  dollars  or  more  for  a  buggy  on 
Sunday  to  ride  up  and  down  Pennsylvania  Avenue 
in,  in  order  that  they  might  try  to  convince  the 
world  that  they  were  worth  thousands.  I  saw  other 
young  men  who  received  seventy-five  or  one  hun- 
dred dollars  per  month  from  the  Government,  who 
were  in  debt  at  the  end  of  every  month.  I  saw 
men  who  but  a  few  months  previous  were  members 


90  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

of  Congress,  then  without  employment  and  in  pov- 
erty. Among  a  large  class  there  seemed  to  be  a 
dependence  upon  the  Government  for  every  con- 
ceivable thing.  The  members  of  this  class  had 
little  ambition  to  create  a  position  for  themselves, 
but  wanted  the  Federal  officials  to  create  one  for 
them.  How  many  times  I  wished  then,  and  have 
often  wished  since,  that  by  some  power  of  magic  I 
might  remove  the  great  bulk  of  these  people  into 
the  country  districts  and  plant  them  upon  the  soil, 
upon  the  solid  and  never  deceptive  foundation  of 
Mother  Nature,  where  all  nations  and  races  that 
have  ever  succeeded  have  gotten  their  start,  —  a  start 
that  at  first  may  be  slow  and  toilsome,  but  one  that 
nevertheless  is  real. 

In  Washington  I  saw  girls  whose  mothers  were 
earning  their  living  by  laundrying.  These  girls 
were  taught  by  their  mothers,  in  rather  a  crude 
way  it  is  true,  the  industry  of  laundrying.  Later, 
these  girls  entered  the  public  schools  and  remained 
there  perhaps  six  or  eight  years.  When  the  public- 
school  course  was  finally  finished,  they  wanted  more 
costly  dresses,  more  costly  hats  and  shoes.  In  a 
word,  while  their  wants  had  been  increased,  their 
ability  to  supply  their  wants  had  not  been  increased 
in  the  same  degree.  On  the  other  hand,  their  six 
or  eight  years  of  book  education  had  weaned  them 


THE    RECONSTRUCTION   PERIOD        91 

away  from  the  occupation  of  their  mothers.  The 
result  of  this  was  in  too  many  cases  that  the  girls 
went  to  the  bad.  I  often  thought  how  much  wiser 
it  would  have  been  to  give  these  girls  the  same 
amount  of  mental  training  —  and  I  favour  any  kind 
of  training,  whether  in  the  languages  or  mathe- 
matics, that  gives  strength  and  culture  to  the  mind 
—  but  at  the  same  time  to  give  them  the  most 
thorough  training  in  the  latest  and  best  methods 
of  laundrying  and  other  kindred  occupations. 


CHAPTER  VI 

BLACK  RACE  AND  RED  RACE 

DURING  the  year  that  I  spent  in  Washing- 
ton, and  for  some  little  time  before  this, 
there  had  been  considerable  agitation  in 
the  state  of  West  Virginia  over  the  question  of 
moving  the  capital  of  the  state  from  Wheeling  to 
some  other  central  point.  As  a  result  of  this,  the 
Legislature  designated  three  cities  to  be  voted  upon 
by  the  citizens  of  the  state  as  the  permanent  seat 
of  government.  Among  these  cities  was  Charles- 
ton, only  five  miles  from  Maiden,  my  home.  At 
the  close  of  my  school  year  in  Washington  I  was 
very  pleasantly  surprised  to  receive,  from  a  com- 
mittee of  white  people  in  Charleston,  an  invitation 
to  canvass  the  state  in  the  interests  of  that  city. 
This  invitation  I  accepted,  and  spent  nearly  three 
months  in  speaking  in  various  parts  of  the  state. 
Charleston  was  successful  in  winning  the  prize,  and 
is  now  the  permanent  seat  of  government. 

The  reputation  that  I  made  as  a  speaker  during 
this    campaign    induced   a    number    of  persons    to 

9z 


BLACK    RACE    AND    RED    RACE  93 

make  an  earnest  effort  to  get  me  to  enter  political 
life,  but  I  refused,  still  believing  that  I  could  find 
other  service  which  would  prove  of  more  perma- 
nent value  to  my  race.  Even  then  I  had  a  strong 
feeling  that  what  our  people  most  needed  was  to 
get  a  foundation  in  education,  industry,  and  prop- 
erty, and  for  this  I  felt  that  thev  could  better  afford 
to  strive  than  for  political  preferment.  As  for  my 
individual  self,  it  appeared  to  me  to  be  reasonably 
certain  that  I  could  succeed  in  political  life,  but  I 
had  a  feeling  that  it  would  be  a  rather  selfish  kind 
of  success  —  individual  success  at  the  cost  of  failing 
to  do  my  duty  in  assisting  in  laying  a  foundation 
for  the  masses. 

At  this  period  in  the  progress  of  our  race  a  very 
large  proportion  of  the  young  men  who  went  to 
school  or  to  college  did  so  with  the  expressed  deter- 
mination to  prepare  themselves  to  be  great  lawyers, 
or  Congressmen,  and  many  of  the  women  planned 
to  become  music  teachers  ;  but  I  had  a  reasonably 
fixed  idea,  even  at  that  early  period  in  my  life,  that 
there  was  need  for  something  to  be  done  to  prepare 
the  way  for  successful  lawyers,  Congressmen,  and 
music  teachers. 

I  felt  that  the  conditions  were  a  good  deal  like 
those  of  an  old  coloured  man,  during  the  days  of 
slavery,  who  wanted  to  learn  how  to  play  on  the 


94  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

guitar.  In  his  desire  to  take  guitar  lessons  he 
applied  to  one  of  his  young  masters  to  teach  him; 
but  the  young  man,  not  having  much  faith  in  the 
ability  of  the  slave  to  master  the  guitar  at  his  age, 
sought  to  discourage  him  by  telling  him:  "Uncle 
Jake,  I  will  give  you  guitar  lessons ;  but,  Jake,  I 
will  have  to  charge  you  three  dollars  for  the  first 
lesson,  two  dollars  for  the  second  lesson,  and  one 
dollar  for  the  third  lesson.  But  I  will  charge  you 
only  twenty-five  cents  for  the  last  lesson." 

Uncle  Jake  answered :  "  All  right,  boss,  I  hires 
you  on  dem  terms.  But,  boss  !  I  wants  yer  to  be 
sure  an'  give  me  dat  las'  lesson  first." 

Soon  after  my  work  in  connection  with  the  re- 
moval of  the  capital  was  finished,  I  received  an 
invitation  which  gave  me  great  joy  and  which  at 
the  same  time  was  a  very  pleasant  surprise.  This 
was  a  letter  from  General  Armstrong,  inviting  me 
to  return  to  Hampton  at  the  next  Commencement 
to  deliver  what  was  called  the  "  post-graduate  ad- 
dress." This  was  an  honour  which  I  had  not 
dreamed  of  receiving.  With  much  care  I  prepared 
the  best  address  that  I  was  capable  of.  I  chose 
for  my  subject  "  The  Force  That  Wins." 

As  I  returned  to  Hampton  for  the  purpose  of 
delivering  this  address,  I  went  over  much  of  the 
same  ground  —  now,  however,  covered  entirely  by 


BLACK  RACE  AND  RED  RACE     95 

railroad  —  that  I  had  traversed  nearly  six  years  be- 
fore, when  I  first  sought  entrance  into  Hampton 
Institute  as  a  student.  Now  I  was  able  to  ride 
the  whole  distance  in  the  train.  I  was  constantly 
contrasting  this  with  my  first  journey  to  Hampton. 
I  think  I  may  say,  without  seeming  egotism,  that 
it  is  seldom  that  five  years  have  wrought  such  a 
change  in  the  life  and  aspirations  of  an  individual. 
At  Hampton  I  received  a  warm  welcome  from 
teachers  and  students.  I  found  that  during  my 
absence  from  Hampton  the  institute  each  year  had 
been  getting  closer  to  the  real  needs  and  conditions 
of  our  people  ;  that  the  industrial  teaching,  as  well 
as  that  of  the  academic  department,  had  greatly 
improved.  The  plan  of  the  school  was  not 
modelled  after  that  of  any  other  institution  then 
in  existence,  but  every  improvement  was  made 
under  the  magnificent  leadership  of  General  Arm- 
strong solely  with  the  view  of  meeting  and  helping 
the  needs  of  our  people  as  they  presented  them- 
selves at  the  time.  Too  often,  it  seems  to  me,  in 
missionary  and  educational  work  among  unde- 
veloped races,  people  yield  to  the  temptation  of 
doing  that  which  was  done  a  hundred  years  before, 
or  is  being  done  in  other  communities  a  thousand 
miles  away.  The  temptation  often  is  to  run  each 
individual  through  a  certain  educational  mould,  re- 


96  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

gardless  of  the  condition  of  the  subject  or  the  end 
to  be  accomplished.  This  was  not  so  at  Hampton 
Institute. 

The  address  which  I  delivered  on  Commence- 
ment Day  seems  to  have  pleased  every  one,  and 
many  kind  and  encouraging  words  were  spoken 
to  me  regarding  it.  Soon  after  my  return  to  my 
home  in  West  Virginia,  where  I  had  planned  to 
continue  teaching,  I  was  again  surprised  to  receive 
a  letter  from  General  Armstrong,  asking  me  to 
return  to  Hampton  partly  as  a  teacher  and  partly 
to  pursue  some  supplementary  studies.  This  was 
in  the  summer  of  1879.  Soon  after  I  began  my 
first  teaching  in  West  Virginia  I  had  picked  out 
four  of  the  brightest  and  most  promising  of  my 
pupils,  in  addition  to  my  two  brothers,  to  whom 
I  have  already  referred,  and  had  given  them  special 
attention,  with  the  view  of  having  them  go  to 
Hampton.  They  had  gone  there,  and  in  each  case 
the  teachers  had  found  them  so  well  prepared  that 
they  entered  advanced  classes.  This  fact,  it  seems, 
led  to  my  being  called  back  to  Hampton  as  a 
teacher.  One  of  the  young  men  that  I  sent  to 
Hampton  in  this  way  is  now  Dr.  Samuel  E.  Court- 
ney, a  successful  physician  in  Boston,  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  School  Board  of  that  city. 

About  this  time  the  experiment  was  being  tried 


BLACK    RACE   AND    RED    RACE  97 

for  the  first  time,  by  General  Armstrong,  of  educat- 
ing Indians  at  Hampton.  Few  people  then  had 
any  confidence  in  the  ability  of  the  Indians  to 
receive  education  and  to  profit  by  it.  General 
Armstrong  was  anxious  to  try  the  experiment  sys- 
tematically on  a  large  scale.  He  secured  from  the 
reservations  in  the  Western  states  over  one  hun- 
dred wild  and  for  the  most  part  perfectly  ignorant 
Indians,  the  greater  proportion  of  whom  were  young 
men.  The  special  work  which  the  General  desired 
me  to  do  was  to  be  a  sort  of  "  house  father  "  to  the 
Indian  young  men  —  that  is,  I  was  to  live  in  the 
building  with  them  and  have  the  charge  of  their 
discipline,  clothing,  rooms,  and  so  on.  This  was 
a  very  tempting  offer,  but  I  had  become  so  much 
absorbed  in  my  work  in  West  Virginia  that  I 
dreaded  to  give  it  up.  However,  I  tore  myself 
away  from  it.  I  did  not  know  how  to  refuse  to 
perform  any  service  that  General  Armstrong  de- 
sired of  me. 

On  going  to  Hampton,  I  took  up  my  residence 
in  a  building  with  about  seventy-five  Indian  youths. 
I  was  the  only  person  in  the  building  who  was  not 
a  member  of  their  race.  At  first  I  had  a  good  deal 
of  doubt  about  my  ability  to  succeed.  I  knew  that 
the  average  Indian  felt  himself  above  the  white 
man,  and,  of  course,  he  felt  himself  far  above  the 


98  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

Negro,  largely  on  account  of  the  fact  of  the  Negro 
having  submitted  to  slavery  —  a  thing  which  the 
Indian  would  never  do.  The  Indians,  in  the 
Indian  Territory,  owned  a  large  number  of  slaves 
during  the  days  of  slavery.  Aside  from  this,  there 
was  a  general  feeling  that  the  attempt  to  educate 
and  civilize  the  red  men  at  Hampton  would  be  a 
failure.  All  this  made  me  proceed  very  cautiously, 
for  I  felt  keenly  the  great  responsibility.  But  I 
was  determined  to  succeed.  It  was  not  long  before 
I  had  the  complete  confidence  of  the  Indians,  and 
not  only  this,  but  I  think  I  am  safe  in  saying  that 
I  had  their  love  and  respect.  I  found  that  they 
were  about  like  any  other  human  beings ;  that  they 
responded  to  kind  treatment  and  resented  ill-treat- 
ment. They  were  continually  planning  to  do 
something  that  would  add  to  my  happiness  and 
comfort.  The  things  that  they  disliked  most,  I 
think,  were  to  have  their  long  hair  cut,  to  give  up 
wearing  their  blankets,  and  to  cease  smoking ;  but 
no  white  American  ever  thinks  that  any  other  race 
is  wholly  civilized  until  he  wears  the  white  man's 
clothes,  eats  the  white  man's  food,  speaks  the  white 
man's  language,  and  professes  the  white  man's 
religion. 

When  the  difficulty  of  learning  the  English  lan- 
guage was  subtracted,  I  found  that  in  the  matter 


BLACK   RACE   AND    RED    RACE  99 

of  learning  trades  and  in  mastering  academic  studies 
there  was  little  difference  between  the  coloured  and 
Indian  students.  It  was  a  constant  delight  to  me 
to  note  the  interest  which  the  coloured  students  took 
in  trying  to  help  the  Indians  in  every  way  possible. 
There  were  a  few  of  the  coloured  students  who  felt 
that  the  Indians  ought  not  to  be  admitted  to 
Hampton,  but  these  were  in  the  minority.  When- 
ever they  were  asked  to  do  so,  the  Negro  students 
gladly  took  the  Indians  as  room-mates,  in  order 
that  they  might  teach  them  to  speak  English  and 
to  acquire  civilized  habits. 

I  have  often  wondered  if  there  was  a  white 
institution  in  this  country  whose  students  would 
have  welcomed  the  incoming  of  more  than  a  hun- 
dred companions  of  another  race  in  the  cordial  way 
that  these  black  students  at  Hampton  welcomed 
the  red  ones.  How  often  I  have  wanted  to  say  to 
white  students  that  they  lift  themselves  up  in  pro- 
portion as  they  help  to  lift  others,  and  the  more 
unfortunate  the  race,  and  the  lower  in  the  scale  of 
civilization,  the  more  does  one  raise  one's  self  by 
giving  the  assistance. 

This  reminds  me  of  a  conversation  which  I  once 
had  with  the  Hon.  Frederick  Douglass.  At  one 
time  Mr.  Douglass  was  travelling  in  the  state  of 
Pennsylvania,   and   was   forced,   on  account  of  his 


ioo  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

colour,  to  ride  in  the  baggage-car,  in  spite  of  the 
fact  that  he  had  paid  the  same  price  for  his  passage 
that  the  other  passengers  had  paid.  When  some 
of  the  white  passengers  went  into  the  baggage-car 
to  console  Mr.  Douglass,  and  one  of  them  said  to 
him  :  "  I  am  sorry,  Mr.  Douglass,  that  you  have 
been  degraded  in  this  manner,"  Mr.  Douglass 
straightened  himself  up  on  the  box  upon  which  he 
was  sitting,  and  replied :  "  They  cannot  degrade 
Frederick  Douglass.  The  soul  that  is  within  me  no 
man  can  degrade.  I  am  not  the  one  that  is  being 
degraded  on  account  of  this  treatment,  but  those 
who  are  inflicting  it  upon  me." 

In  one  part  of  our  country,  where  the  law  de- 
mands the  separation  of  the  races  on  the  railroad 
trains,  I  saw  at  one  time  a  rather  amusing  instance 
which  showed  how  difficult  it  sometimes  is  to  know 
where  the  black  begins  and  the  white  ends. 

There  was  a  man  who  was  well  known  in  his 
community  as  a  Negro,  but  who  was  so  white  that 
even  an  expert  would  have  hard  work  to  classify 
him  as  a  black  man.  This  man  was  riding  in 
the  part  of  the  train  set  aside  for  the  coloured  pas- 
sengers. When  the  train  conductor  reached  him, 
he  showed  at  once  that  he  was  perplexed.  If  the 
man  was  a  Negro,  the  conductor  did  not  want  to 
send  him  into  the  white   people's   coach ;    at   the 


BLACK  RACE  AND  RED  RACE    101 

same  time,  if  he  was  a  white  man,  the  conductor 
did  not  want  to  insult  him  by  asking  him  if  he  was 
a  Negro.  The  official  looked  him  over  carefully, 
examining  his  hair,  eyes,  nose,  and  hands,  but 
still  seemed  puzzled.  Finally,  to  solve  the  diffi- 
culty, he  stooped  over  and  peeped  at  the  man's 
feet.  When  I  saw  the  conductor  examining  the 
feet  of  the  man  in  question,  I  said  to  myself,  "That 
will  settle  it ; "  and  so  it  did,  for  the  trainman 
promptly  decided  that  the  passenger  was  a  Negro, 
and  let  him  remain  where  he  was.  I  congratulated 
myself  that  my  race  was  fortunate  in  not  losing  one 
of  its  members. 

My  experience  has  been  that  the  time  to  test  a 
true  gentleman  is  to  observe  him  when  he  is  in 
contact  with  individuals  of  a  race  that  is  less  fortu- 
nate than  his  own.  This  is  illustrated  in  no  better 
way  than  by  observing  the  conduct  of  the  old- 
school  type  of  Southern  gentleman  when  he  is  in 
contact  with  his  former  slaves  or  their  descendants. 

An  example  of  what  I  mean  is  shown  in  a  story 
told  of  George  Washington,  who,  meeting  a  coloured 
man  in  the  road  once,  who  politely  lifted  his  hat, 
lifted  his  own  in  return.  Some  of  his  white  friends 
who  saw  the  incident  criticised  Washington  for  his 
action.  In  reply  to  their  criticism  George  Wash- 
ington said :   "  Do  you  suppose  that  I  am  going  to 


102  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

permit  a  poor,  ignorant,  coloured  man  to  be  more 
polite  than  I  am  ?  " 

While  I  was  in  charge  of  the  Indian  boys  at 
Hampton,  I  had  one  or  two  experiences  which 
illustrate  the  curious  workings  of  caste  in  America. 
One  of  the  Indian  boys  was  taken  ill,  and  it  became 
my  duty  to  take  him  to  Washington,  deliver  him 
over  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  and  get  a 
receipt  for  him,  in  order  that  he  might  be  returned 
to  his  Western  reservation.  At  that  time  I  was 
rather  ignorant  of  the  ways  of  the  world.  During 
my  journey  to  Washington,  on  a  steamboat,  when 
the  bell  rang  for  dinner,  I  was  careful  to  wait  and 
not  enter  the  dining  room  until  after  the  greater 
part  of  the  passengers  had  finished  their  meal. 
Then,  with  my  charge,  I  went  to  the  dining  saloon. 
The  man  in  charge  politely  informed  me  that  the 
Indian  could  be  served,  but  that  I  could  not.  I 
never  could  understand  how  he  knew  just  where  to 
draw  the  colour  line,  since  the  Indian  and  I  were 
of  about  the  same  complexion.  The  steward,  how- 
ever, seemed  to  be  an  expert  in  this  matter.  I  had 
been  directed  by  the  authorities  at  Hampton  to  stop 
at  a  certain  hotel  in  Washington  with  my  charge, 
but  when  I  went  to  this  hotel  the  clerk  stated 
that  he  would  be  glad  to  receive  the  Indian  into  the 
house,  but  said  that  he  could  not  accommodate  me. 


BLACK    RACE   AND    RED    RACE         103 

An  illustration  of  something  of  this  same  feeling 
came, under  my  observation  afterward.  I  happened 
to  find  myself  in  a  town  in  which  so  much  excite- 
ment and  indignation  were  being  expressed  that  it 
seemed  likely  for  a  time  that  there  would  be  a 
lynching.  The  occasion  of  the  trouble  was  that 
a  dark-skinned  man  had  stopped  at  the  local  hotel. 
Investigation,  however,  developed  the  fact  that  this 
individual  was  a  citizen  of  Morocco,  and  that  while 
travelling  in  this  country  he  spoke  the  English 
language.  As  soon  as  it  was  learned  that  he  was 
not  an  American  Negro,  all  the  signs  of  indignation 
disappeared.  The  man  who  was  the  innocent  cause 
of  the  excitement,  though,  found  it  prudent  after 
that  not  to  speak  English. 

At  the  end  of  my  first  year  with  the  Indians 
there  came  another  opening  for  me  at  Hampton, 
which,  as  I  look  back  over  my  life  now,  seems  to 
have  come  providentially,  to  help  to  prepare  me  for 
my  work  at  Tuskegee  later.  General  Armstrong 
had  found  out  that  there  was  quite  a  number  of 
young  coloured  men  and  women  who  were  intensely 
in  earnest  in  wishing  to  get  an  education,  but  who 
were  prevented  from  entering  Hampton  Institute 
because  they  were  too  poor  to  be  able  to  pay  any 
portion  of  the  cost  of  their  board,  or  even  to  supply 
themselves  with  books.      He  conceived  the  idea  of 


104  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

starting  a  night-school  in  connection  with  the  Insti- 
tute, into  which  a  limited  number  of  the  most 
promising  of  these  young  men  and  women  would 
be  received,  on  condition  that  they  were  to  work 
for  ten  hours  during  the  day,  and  attend  school  for 
two  hours  at  night.  They  were  to  be  paid  some- 
thing above  the  cost  of  their  board  for  their  work. 
The  greater  part  of  their  earnings  was  to  be  reserved 
in  the  school's  treasury  as  a  fund  to  be  drawn  on  to 
pay  their  board  when  they  had  become  students  in 
the  day-school,  after  they  had  spent  one  or  two 
years  in  the  night-school.  In  this  way  they  would 
obtain  a  start  in  their  books  and  a  knowledge  of 
some  trade  or  industry,  in  addition  to  the  other  far- 
reaching  benefits  of  the  institution. 

General  Armstrong  asked  me  to  take  charge  of 
the  night-school,  and  I  did  so.  At  the  beginning 
of  this  school  there  were  about  twelve  strong,  earnest 
men  and  women  who  entered  the  class.  During  the 
day  the  greater  part  of  the  young  men  worked  in 
the  school's  sawmill,  and  the  young  women  worked 
in  the  laundry.  The  work  was  not  easy  in  either 
place,  but  in  all  my  teaching  I  never  taught  pupils 
who  gave  me  such  genuine  satisfaction  as  these  did. 
They  were  good  students,  and  mastered  their  work 
thoroughly.  They  were  so  much  in  earnest  that 
only  the  ringing  of  the  retiring-bell  would   make 


BLACK    RACE    AND    RED    RACE         105 

them  stop  studying,  and  often  they  would  urge  me 
to  continue  the  lessons  after  the  usual  hour  for 
going  to  bed  had  come. 

These  students  showed  so  much  earnestness, 
both  in  their  hard  work  during  the  day,  as  well 
as  in  their  application  to  their  studies  at  night,  that 
I  gave  them  the  name  of  "  The  Plucky  Class " 
—  a  name  which  soon  grew  popular  and  spread 
throughout  the  institution.  After  a  student  had 
been  in  the  night-school  long  enough  to  prove  what 
was  in  him,  I  gave  him  a  printed  certificate  which 
read  something  like  this  :  — 

"  This  is  to  certify  that  James  Smith  is  a  member 
of  The  Plucky  Class  of  the  Hampton  Institute,  and 
is  in  good  and  regular  standing." 

The  students  prized  these  certificates  highly,  and 
they  added  greatly  to  the  popularity  of  the  night- 
school.  Within  a  few  weeks  this  department  had 
grown  to  such  an  extent  that  there  were  about 
twenty-five  students  in  attendance.  I  have  followed 
the  course  of  many  of  these  twenty-five  men  and 
women  ever  since  then,  and  they  are  now  holding 
important  and  useful  positions  in  nearly  every  part 
of  the  South.  The  night-school  at  Hampton,  which 
started  with  only  twelve  students,  now  numbers  be- 
tween three  and  four  hundred,  and  is  one  of  the  per- 
manent and  most  important  features  of  the  institution. 


CHAPTER   VII 

EARLY    DAYS    AT    TUSKEGEE 

DURING  the  time  that  I  had  charge  of  the 
Indians  and  the  night-school  at  Hampton, 
I  pursued  some  studies  myself,  under  the 
direction  of  the  instructors  there.  One  of  these  in- 
structors was  the  Rev.  Dr.  H.  B.  Frissell,  the  pres- 
ent Principal  of  the  Hampton  Institute,  General 
Armstrong's  successor. 

In  May,  1881,  near  the  close  of  my  first  year  in 
teaching  the  night-school,  in  a  way  that  I  had  not 
dared  expect,  the  opportunity  opened  for  me  to  be- 
gin my  life-work.  One  night  in  the  chapel,  after 
the  usual  chapel  exercises  were  over,  General  Arm- 
strong referred  to  the  fact  that  he  had  received  a 
letter  from  some  gentlemen  in  Alabama  asking  him 
to  recommend  some  one  to  take  charge  of  what  was 
to  be  a  normal  school  for  the  coloured  people  in  the 
little  town  of  Tuskegee  in  that  state.  These  gen- 
tlemen seemed  to  take  it  for  granted  that  no  coloured 
man  suitable  for  the  position  could  be  secured,  and 
they  were  expecting  the  General  to   recommend  a 

106 


EARLY    DAYS    AT   TUSKEGEE  107 

white  man  for  the  place.  The  next  day  General 
Armstrong  sent  for  me  to  come  to  his  office,  and, 
much  to  my  surprise,  asked  me  if  I  thought  I  could 
fill  the  position  in  Alabama.  I  told  him  that  I 
would  be  willing  to  try.  Accordingly,  he  wrote  to 
the  people  who  had  applied  to  him  for  the  informa- 
tion, that  he  did  not  know  of  any  white  man  to  sug- 
gest, but  if  they  would  be  willing  to  take  a  coloured 
man,  he  had  one  whom  he  could  recommend.  In 
this  letter  he  gave  them  my  name. 

Several  days  passed  before  anything  more  was 
heard  about  the  matter.  Some  time  afterward,  one 
Sunday  evening  during  the  chapel  exercises,  a  mes- 
senger came  in  and  handed  the  General  a  telegram. 
At  the  end  of  the  exercises  he  read  the  telegram  to 
the  school.  In  substance,  these  were  its  words  : 
"  Booker  T.  Washington  will  suit  us.  Send  him 
at  once." 

There  was  a  great  deal  of  joy  expressed  among 
the  students  and  teachers,  and  I  received  very  hearty 
congratulations.  I  began  to  get  ready  at  once  to  go 
to  Tuskegee.  I  went  by  way  of  my  old  home  in 
West  Virginia,  where  I  remained  for  several  days,after 
which  I  proceeded  to  Tuskegee.  I  found  Tuske- 
gee to  be  a  town  of  about  two  thousand  inhabitants, 
nearly  one-half  of  whom  were  coloured.  It  was  in 
what  was  known  as  the  Black  Belt  of  the  South.     In 


108  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

the  county  in  which  Tuskegee  is  situated  the  coloured 
people  outnumbered  the  whites  by  about  three  to 
one.  In  some  of  the  adjoining  and  near-by  coun- 
ties the  proportion  was  not  far  from  six  coloured 
persons  to  one  white. 

I  have  often  been  asked  to  define  the  term  "Black 
Belt."  So  far  as  I  can  learn,  the  term  was  first  used 
to  designate  a  part  of  the  country  which  was  distin- 
guished by  the  colour  of  the  soil.  The  part  of  the 
country  possessing  this  thick,  dark,  and  naturally 
rich  soil  was,  of  course,  the  part  of  the  South  where 
the  slaves  were  most  profitable,  and  consequently 
they  were  taken  there  in  the  largest  numbers.  Later, 
and  especially  since  the  war,  the  term  seems  to  be 
used  wholly  in  a  political  sense  —  that  is,  to  desig- 
nate the  counties  where  the  black  people  outnumber 
the  white. 

Before  going  to  Tuskegee  I  had  expected  to  find 
there  a  building  and  all  the  necessary  apparatus  ready 
for  me  to  begin  teaching.  To  my  disappointment, 
I  found  nothing  of  the  kind.  I  did  find,  though, 
that  which  no  costly  building  and  apparatus  can  sup- 
ply,—  hundreds  of  hungry,  earnest  souls  who  wanted 
to  secure  knowledge. 

Tuskegee  seemed  an  ideal  place  for  the  school. 
It  was  in  the  midst  of  the  great  bulk  of  the  Negro 
population,  and  was  rather  secluded,  being  five  miles 


EARLY    DAYS   AT   TUSKEGEE  109 

from  the  main  line  of  railroad,  with  which  it  was 
connected  by  a  short  line.  During  the  days  of  slav- 
ery, and  since,  the  town  had  been  a  centre  for  the 
education  of  the  white  people.  This  was  an  added 
advantage,  for  the  reason  that  I  found  the  white  peo- 
ple possessing  a  degree  of  culture  and  education  that 
is  not  surpassed  by  many  localities.  While  the  col- 
oured people  were  ignorant,  they  had  not,  as  a  rule, 
degraded  and  weakened  their  bodies  by  vices  such 
as  are  common  to  the  lower  class  of  people  in  the 
large  cities.  In  general,  I  found  the  relations  be- 
tween the  two  races  pleasant.  For  example,  the 
largest,  and  I  think  at  that  time  the  only  hardware 
store  in  the  town  was  owned  and  operated  jointly  by 
a  coloured  man  and  a  white  man.  This  copartner- 
ship continued  until  the  death  of  the  white  partner. 
I  found  that  about  a  year  previous  to  my  going 
to  Tuskegee  some  of  the  coloured  people  who  had 
heard  something  of  the  work  of  education  being 
done  at  Hampton  had  applied  to  the  state  Legisla- 
ture, through  their  representatives,  for  a  small  appro- 
priation to  be  used  in  starting  a  normal  school  in 
Tuskegee.  This  request  the  Legislature  had  com- 
plied with  to  the  extent  of  granting  an  annual  appro- 
priation of  two  thousand  dollars.  I  soon  learned, 
however,  that  this  money  could  be  used  only  for  the 
payment  of  the  salaries  of  the  instructors,  and  that 


no  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

there  was  no  provision  for  securing  land,  buildings, 
or  apparatus.  The  task  before  me  did  not  seem  a 
very  encouraging  one.  It  seemed  much  like  mak- 
ing bricks  without  straw.  The  coloured  people  were 
overjoyed,  and  were  constantly  offering  their  services 
in  any  way  in  which  they  could  be  of  assistance  in 
getting  the  school  started. 

My  first  task  was  to  find  a  place  in  which  to  open 
the  school.  After  looking  the  town  over  with  some 
care,  the  most  suitable  place  that  could  be  secured 
seemed  to  be  a  rather  dilapidated  shanty  near  the 
coloured  Methodist  church,  together  with  the  church 
itself  as  a  sort  of  assembly-room.  Both  the  church 
and  the  shanty  were  in  about  as  bad  condition  as 
was  possible.  I  recall  that  during  the  first  months 
of  school  that  I  taught  in  this  building  it  was  in 
such  poor  repair  that,  whenever  it  rained,  one  of  the 
older  students  would  very  kindly  leave  his  lessons 
and  hold  an  umbrella  over  me  while  I  heard  the 
recitations  of  the  others.  I  remember,  also,  that 
on  more  than  one  occasion  my  landlady  held  an 
umbrella  over  me  while  I  ate  breakfast. 

At  the  time  I  went  to  Alabama  the  coloured  people 
were  taking  considerable  interest  in  politics,  and 
they  were  very  anxious  that  I  should  become  one  of 
them  politically,  in  every  respect.  They  seemed  to 
have  a  little  distrust  of  strangers  in  this  regard.     I 


EARLY    DAYS   AT    TUSKEGEE  in 

recall  that  one  man,  who  seemed  to  have  been  desig- 
nated by  the  others  to  look  after  my  political  des- 
tiny, came  to  me  on  several  occasions  and  said,  with 
a  good  deal  of  earnestness  :  "  We  wants  you  to  be 
sure  to  vote  jes'  like  we  votes.  We  can't  read  de 
newspapers  very  much,  but  we  knows  how  to  vote, 
an'  we  wants  you  to  vote  jes'  like  we  votes."  He 
added  :  "  We  watches  de  white  man,  and  we  keeps 
watching  de  white  man  till  we  finds  out  which  way 
de  white  man's  gwine  to  vote  ;  an'  when  we  finds  out 
which  way  de  white  man's  gwine  to  vote,  den  we 
votes  'xactly  de  other  way.  Den  we  knows  we's 
right." 

I  am  glad  to  add,  however,  that  at  the  present 
time  the  disposition  to  vote  against  the  white  man 
merely  because  he  is  white  is  largely  disappearing, 
and  the  race  is  learning  to  vote  from  principle,  for 
what  the  voter  considers  to  be  for  the  best  interests 
of  both  races. 

I  reached  Tuskegee,  as  I  have  said,  early  in  June, 
1 88 1.  The  first  month  I  spent  in  finding  accom- 
modations for  the  school,  and  in  travelling  through 
Alabama,  examining  into  the  actual  life  of  the  peo- 
ple, especially  in  the  country  districts,  and  in  getting 
the  school  advertised  among  the  class  of  people  that 
I  wanted  to  have  attend  it.  The  most  of  my  trav- 
elling was  done  over  the  country  roads,  with  a  mule 


ii2  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

and  a  cart  or  a  mule  and  a  buggy  wagon  for  con- 
veyance. I  ate  and  slept  with  the  people,  in  their 
little  cabins.  I  saw  their  farms,  their  schools,  their 
churches.  Since,  in  the  case  of  the  most  of  these 
visits,  there  had  been  no  notice  given  in  advance 
that  a  stranger  was  expected,  I  had  the  advantage  of 
seeing  the  real,  everyday  life  of  the  people. 

In  the  plantation  districts  I  found  that,  as  a  rule, 
the  whole  family  slept  in  one  room,  and  that  in  addi- 
tion to  the  immediate  family  there  sometimes  were 
relatives,  or  others  not  related  to  the  family,  who 
slept  in  the  same  room.  On  more  than  one  occa- 
sion I  went  outside  the  house  to  get  ready  for  bed, 
or  to  wait  until  the  family  had  gone  to  bed.  They 
usually  contrived  some  kind  of  a  place  for  me  to 
sleep,  either  on  the  floor  or  in  a  special  part  of  an- 
other's bed.  Rarely  was  there  any  place  provided 
in  the  cabin  where  one  could  bathe  even  the  face 
and  hands,  but  usually  some  provision  was  made 
for  this  outside  the  house,  in  the  yard. 

The  common  diet  of  the  people  was  fat  pork  and 
corn  bread.  At  times  I  have  eaten  in  cabins  where 
they  had  only  corn  bread  and  "  black-eye  peas " 
cooked  in  plain  water.  The  people  seemed  to  have 
no  other  idea  than  to  live  on  this  fat  meat  and  corn 
bread,  —  the  meat,  and  the  meal  of  which  the  bread 
was  made,  having  been  bought  at  a  high  price  at  a 


EARLY   DAYS   AT   TUSKEGEE  113 

store  in  town,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  land 
all  about  the  cabin  homes  could  easily  have  been 
made  to  produce  nearly  every  kind  of  garden  vege- 
table that  is  raised  anywhere  in  the  country.  Their 
one  object  seemed  to  be  to  plant  nothing  but  cotton  ; 
and  in  many  cases  cotton  was  planted  up  to  the  very 
door  of  the  cabin. 

In  these  cabin  homes  I  often  found  sewing- 
machines  which  had  been  bought,  or  were  being 
bought,  on  instalments,  frequently  at  a  cost  of  as 
much  as  sixty  dollars,  or  showy  clocks  for  which  the 
occupants  of  the  cabins  had  paid  twelve  or  fourteen 
dollars.  I  remember  that  on  one  occasion  when  I 
went  into  one  of  these  cabins  for  dinner,  when  I  sat 
down  to  the  table  for  a  meal  with  the  four  members 
of  the  family,  I  noticed  that,  while  there  were  five 
of  us  at  the  table,  there  was  but  one  fork  for  the 
five  of  us  to  use.  Naturally  there  was  an  awkward 
pause  on  my  part.  In  the  opposite  corner  of  that 
same  cabin  was  an  organ  for  which  the  people  told 
me  they  were  paying  sixty  dollars  in  monthly  in- 
stalments.    One  fork,  and  a  sixty-dollar  organ  ! 

In  most  cases  the  sewing-machine  was  not  used, 
the  clocks  were  so  worthless  that  they  did  not  keep 
correct  time  —  and  if  they  had,  in  nine  cases  out  of 
ten  there  would  have  been  no  one  in  the  family  who 
could  have  told  the  time  of  day  —  while  the  organ, 


ii4  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

of  course,  was  rarely  used  for  want  of  a  person  who 
could  play  upon  it. 

In  the  case  to  which  I  have  referred,  where  the 
family  sat  down  to  the  table  for  the  meal  at  which  I 
was  their  guest,  I  could  see  plainly  that  this  was  an 
awkward  and  unusual  proceeding,  and  was  done  in 
my  honour.  In  most  cases,  when  the  family  got  up 
in  the  morning,  for  example,  the  wife  would  put  a 
piece  of  meat  in  a  frying-pan  and  put  a  lump  of 
dough  in  a  "  skillet,"  as  they  called  it.  These  uten- 
sils would  be  placed  on  the  fire,  and  in  ten  or  fifteen 
minutes  breakfast  would  be  ready.  Frequently  the 
husband  would  take  his  bread  and  meat  in  his  hand 
and  start  for  the  field,  eating  as  he  walked.  The 
mother  would  sit  down  in  a  corner  and  eat  her 
breakfast,  perhaps  from  a  plate  and  perhaps  directly 
from  the  "  skillet "  or  frying-pan,  while  the  children 
would  eat  their  portion  of  the  bread  and  meat  while 
running  about  the  yard.  At  certain  seasons  of  the 
year,  when  meat  was  scarce,  it  was  rarely  that  the 
children  who  were  not  old  enough  or  strong  enough 
to  work  in  the  fields  would  have  the  luxury  of  meat. 

The  breakfast  over,  and  with  practically  no  atten- 
tion given  to  the  house,  the  whole  family  would,  as 
a  general  thing,  proceed  to  the  cotton-field.  Every 
child  that  was  large  enough  to  carry  a  hoe  was  put 
to  work,  and  the  baby  —  for  usually  there  was  at 


EARLY   DAYS   AT   TUSKEGEE  115 

least  one  baby  —  would  be  laid  down  at  the  end  of 
the  cotton  row,  so  that  its  mother  could  give  it  a 
certain  amount  of  attention  when  she  had  finished 
chopping  her  row.  The  noon  meal  and  the  supper 
were  taken  in  much  the  same  way  as  the  breakfast. 

All  the  days  of  the  family  would  be  spent  after 
much  this  same  routine,  except  Saturday  and  Sun- 
day. On  Saturday  the  whole  family  would  spend 
at  least  half  a  day,  and  often  a  whole  day,  in  town. 
The  idea  in  going  to  town  was,  I  suppose,  to  do 
shopping,  but  all  the  shopping  that  the  whole  family 
had  money  for  could  have  been  attended  to  in  ten 
minutes  by  one  person.  Still,  the  whole  family 
remained  in  town  for  most  of  the  day,  spending  the 
greater  part  of  the  time  in  standing  on  the  streets, 
the  women,  too  often,  sitting  about  somewhere 
smoking  or  dipping  snuff.  Sunday  was  usually 
spent  in  going  to  some  big  meeting.  With  few 
exceptions,  I  found  that  the  crops  were  mortgaged 
in  the  counties  where  I  went,  and  that  the  most  of 
the  coloured  farmers  were  in  debt.  The  state  had 
not  been  able  to  build  schoolhouses  in  the  country 
districts,  and,  as  a  rule,  the  schools  were  taught  in 
churches  or  in  log  cabins.  More  than  once,  while 
on  my  journeys,  I  found  that  there  was  no  provision 
made  in  the  house  used  for  school  purposes  for 
heating  the  building  during   the   winter,   and   con- 


n6  UP    FROM   SLAVERY 

sequently  a  fire  had  to  be  built  in  the  yard,  and 
teacher  and  pupils  passed  in  and  out  of  the  house 
as  they  got  cold  or  warm.  With  few  exceptions,  I 
found  the  teachers  in  these  country  schools  to  be 
miserably  poor  in  preparation  for  their  work,  and 
poor  in  moral  character.  The  schools  were  in  ses- 
sion from  three  to  five  months.  There  was  practi- 
cally no  apparatus  in  the  schoolhouses,  except  that 
occasionally  there  was  a  rough  blackboard.  I  recall 
that  one  day  I  went  into  a  schoolhouse  —  or  rather 
into  an  abandoned  log  cabin  that  was  being  used  as 
a  schoolhouse  —  and  found  five  pupils  who  were 
studying  a  lesson  from  one  book.  Two  of  these, 
on  the  front  seat,  were  using  the  book  between 
them  ;  behind  these  were  two  others  peeping  over 
the  shoulders  of  the  first  two,  and  behind  the  four 
was  a  fifth  little  fellow  who  was  peeping  over  the 
shoulders  of  all  four. 

What  I  have  said  concerning  the  character  of  the 
schoolhouses  and  teachers  will  also  apply  quite  accu- 
rately as  a  description  of  the  church  buildings  and 
the  ministers. 

I  met  some  very  interesting  characters  during  my 
travels.  As  illustrating  the  peculiar  mental  processes 
of  the  country  people,  I  remember  that  I  asked  one 
coloured  man,  who  was  about  sixty  years  old,  to  tell 
me  something  of  his  history.     He  said  that  he  had 


EARLY    DAYS    AT    TUSKEGEE  117 

been  born  in  Virginia,  and  sold  into  Alabama  in 
1845.  I  asked  him  how  many  were  sold  at  the 
same  time.  He  said,  "  There  were  five  of  us ; 
myself  and  brother  and  three  mules." 

In  giving  all  these  descriptions  of  what  I  saw 
during  my  month  of  travel  in  the  country  around 
Tuskegee,  I  wish  my  readers  to  keep  in  mind  the 
fact  that  there  were  many  encouraging  exceptions 
to  the  conditions  which  I  have  described.  I  have 
stated  in  such  plain  words  what  I  saw,  mainly  for 
the  reason  that  later  I  want  to  emphasize  the  encour- 
aging changes  that  have  taken  place  in  the  commu- 
nity, not  wholly  by  the  work  of  the  Tuskegee  school, 
but  by  that  of  other  institutions  as  well. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

TEACHING    SCHOOL    IN    A    STABLE    AND    A    HEN-HOUSE 

I  CONFESS  that  what  I  saw  during  my  month 
of  travel  and  investigation  left  me  with  a  very 
heavy  heart.  The  work  to  be  done  in  order  to 
lift  these  people  up  seemed  almost  beyond  accom- 
plishing. I  was  only  one  person,  and  it  seemed  to 
me  that  the  little  effort  which  I  could  put  forth 
could  go  such  a  short  distance  toward  bringing 
about  results.  I  wondered  if  I  could  accomplish 
anything,  and  if  it  were  worth  while  for  me  to  try. 

Of  one  thing  I  felt  more  strongly  convinced  than 
ever,  after  spending  this  month  in  seeing  the  actual 
life  of  the  coloured  people,  and  that  was  that,  in 
order  to  lift  them  up,  something  must  be  done 
more  than  merely  to  imitate  New  England  educa- 
tion as  it  then  existed.  I  saw  more  clearly  than 
ever  the  wisdom  of  the  system  which  General 
Armstrong  had  inaugurated  at  Hampton.  To  take 
the  children  of  such  people  as  I  had  been  among 
for  a  month,  and  each  day  give  them  a  few  hours 
of  mere  book  education,  I  felt  would  be  almost  a 
waste  of  time. 

jig 


TEACHING    SCHOOL  119 

After  consultation  with  the  citizens  of  Tuskegee, 
I  set  July  4,  1 88 1,  as  the  day  for  the  opening  of 
the  school  in  the  little  shanty  and  church  which 
had  been  secured  for  its  accommodation.  The 
white  people,  as  well  as  the  coloured,  were  greatly 
interested  in  the  starting  of  the  new  school,  and 
the  opening  day  was  looked  forward  to  with 
much  earnest  discussion.  There  were  not  a  few 
white  people  in  the  vicinity  of  Tuskegee  who 
looked  with  some  disfavour  upon  the  project. 
They  questioned  its  value  to  the  coloured  people, 
and  had  a  fear  that  it  might  result  in  bringing 
about  trouble  between  the  races.  Some  had  the 
feeling  that  in  proportion  as  the  Negro  received 
education,  in  the  same  proportion  would  his  value 
decrease  as  an  economic  factor  in  the  state. 
These  people  feared  the  result  of  education  would 
be  that  the  Negroes  would  leave  the  farms, 
and  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  secure  them  for 
domestic  service. 

The  white  people  who  questioned  the  wisdom 
of  starting  this  new  school  had  in  their  minds 
pictures  of  what  was  called  an  educated  Negro,  with 
a  high  hat,  imitation  gold  eye-glasses,  a  showy  walk- 
ing-stick, kid  gloves,  fancy  boots,  and  what  not  — 
in  a  word,  a  man  who  was  determined  to  live  by 
his  wits.      It  was  difficult  for  these  people    to  see 


120  UP    FROM   SLAVERY 

how  education  would  produce  any  other  kind  of 
a  coloured  man. 

In  the  midst  of  all  the  difficulties  which  I  en- 
countered in  getting  the  little  school  started,  and 
since  then  through  a  period  of  nineteen  years,  there 
are  two  men  among  all  the  many  friends  of  the 
school  in  Tuskegee  upon  whom  I  have  depended 
constantly  for  advice  and  guidance  ;  and  the  success 
of  the  undertaking  is  largely  due  to  these  men, 
from  whom  I  have  never  sought  anything  in  vain. 
I  mention  them  simply  as  types.  One  is  a  white  man 
and  an  ex-slaveholder,  Mr.  George  W.  Campbell ; 
the  other  is  a  black  man  and  an  ex-slave,  Mr.  Lewis 
Adams.  These  were  the  men  who  wrote  to  General 
Armstrong  for  a  teacher. 

Mr.  Campbell  is  a  merchant  and  banker,  and  had 
had  little  experience  in  dealing  with  matters  pertain- 
ing to  education.  Mr.  Adams  was  a  mechanic, 
and  had  learned  the  trades  of  shoemaking,  harness- 
making,  and  tinsmithing  during  the  days  of  slavery. 
He  had  never  been  to  school  a  day  in  his  life,  but 
in  some  way  he  had  learned  to  read  and  write  while 
a  slave.  From  the  first,  these  two  men  saw  clearly 
what  my  plan  of  education  was,  sympathized  with 
me,  and  supported  me  in  every  effort.  In  the  days 
which  were  darkest  financially  for  the  school,  Mr. 
Campbell  was  never  appealed  to  when  he  was  not 


TEACHING   SCHOOL  121 

willing  to  extend  all  the  aid  in  his  power.  I  do  not 
know  two  men,  one  an  ex-slaveholder,  one  an  ex- 
slave,  whose  advice  and  judgment  I  would  feel 
more  like  following  in  everything  which  concerns 
the  life  and  development  of  the  school  at  Tuskegee 
than  those  of  these  two  men. 

I  have  always  felt  that  Mr.  Adams,  in  a  large 
degree,  derived  his  unusual  power  of  mind  from 
the  training  given  his  hands  in  the  process  of 
mastering  well  three  trades  during  the  days  of 
slavery.  If  one  goes  to-day  into  any  Southern 
town,  and  asks  for  the  leading  and  most  reliable 
coloured  man  in  the  community,  I  believe  that  in 
five  cases  out  of  ten  he  will  be  directed  to  a  Negro 
who  learned  a  trade  during  the  days  of  slavery. 

On  the  morning  that  the  school  opened,  thirty 
students  reported  for  admission.  I  was  the  only 
teacher.  The  students  were  about  equally  divided 
between  the  sexes.  Most  of  them  lived  in  Macon 
County,  the  county  in  which  Tuskegee  is  situated, 
and  of  which  it  is  the  county-seat.  A  great  many 
more  students  wanted  to  enter  the  school,  but  it  had 
been  decided  to  receive  only  those  who  were  above 
fifteen  years  of  age,  and  who  had  previously  received 
some  education.  The  greater  part  of  the  thirty 
were  public-school  teachers,  and  some  of  them  were 
nearly  forty  years  of  age.     With  the  teachers  came 


122  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

some  of  their  former  pupils,  and  when  they  were 
examined  it  was  amusing  to  note  that  in  several  cases 
the  pupil  entered  a  higher  class  than  did  his  former 
teacher.  It  was  also  interesting  to  note  how  many 
big  books  some  of  them  had  studied,  and  how 
many  high-sounding  subjects  some  of  them  claimed 
to  have  mastered.  The  bigger  the  book  and  the 
longer  the  name  of  the  subject,  the  prouder  they 
felt  of  their  accomplishment.  Some  had  studied 
Latin,  and  one  or  two  Greek.  This  they  thought 
entitled  them  to  special  distinction. 

In  fact,  one  of  the  saddest  things  I  saw  during 
the  month  of  travel  which  I  have  described  was  a 
young  man,  who  had  attended  some  high  school, 
sitting  down  in  a  one-room  cabin,  with  grease  on 
his  clothing,  filth  all  around  him,  and  weeds  in  the 
yard  and  garden,  engaged  in  studying  a  French 
grammar. 

The  students  who  came  first  seemed  to  be  fond 
of  memorizing  long  and  complicated  "rules"  in 
grammar  and  mathematics,  but  had  little  thought 
or  knowledge  of  applying  these  rules  to  the  every- 
day affairs  of  their  life.  One  subject  which  they 
liked  to  talk  about,  and  tell  me  that  they  had 
mastered,  in  arithmetic,  was  "  banking  and  dis- 
count," but  I  soon  found  out  that  neither  they  nor 
almost  any  one  in  the  neighbourhood  in  which  they 


TEACHING   SCHOOL  123 

lived  had  ever  had  a  bank  account.  In  registering 
the  names  of  the  students,  I  found  that  almost  every 
one  of  them  had  one  or  more  middle  initials. 
When  I  asked  what  the  "J"  stood  for,  in  the 
name  of  John  J.  Jones,  it  was  explained  to  me  that 
this  was  a  part  of  his  "  entitles."  Most  of  the 
students  wanted  to  get  an  education  because  they 
thought  it  would  enable  them  to  earn  more  money 
as  school-teachers. 

Notwithstanding  what  I  have  said  about  them 
in  these  respects,  I  have  never  seen  a  more  earnest 
and  willing  company  of  young  men  and  women  than 
these  students  were.  They  were  all  willing  to  learn 
the  right  thing  as  soon  as  it  was  shown  them  what 
was  right.  I  was  determined  to  start  them  off  on 
a  solid  and  thorough  foundation,  so  far  as  their 
books  were  concerned.  I  soon  learned  that  most 
of  them  had  the  merest  smattering  of  the  high- 
sounding  things  that  they  had  studied.  While  they 
could  locate  the  Desert  of  Sahara  or  the  capital 
of  China  on  an  artificial  globe,  I  found  out  that 
the  girls  could  not  locate  the  proper  places  for  the 
knives  and  forks  on  an  actual  dinner-table,  or  the 
places  on  which  the  bread  and  meat  should  be  set. 

I  had  to  summon  a  good  deal  of  courage  to  take 
a  student  who  had  been  studying  cube  root  and 
"banking  and  discount,"  and  explain  to  him   that 


124  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

the  wisest  thing  for  him  to  do  first  was  thoroughly 
to  master  the  multiplication  table. 

The  number  of  pupils  increased  each  week,  until 
by  the  end  of  the  first  month  there  were  nearly  fifty. 
Many  of  them,  however,  said  that,  as  they  could  re- 
main only  for  two  or  three  months,  they  wanted  to 
enter  a  high  class  and  get  a  diploma  the  first  year  if 
possible. 

At  the  end  of  the  first  six  weeks  a  new  and  rare 
face  entered  the  school  as  a  co-teacher.  This  was 
Miss  Olivia  A.  Davidson,  who  later  became  my 
wife.  Miss  Davidson  was  born  in  Ohio,  and  re- 
ceived her  preparatory  education  in  the  public  schools 
of  that  state.  When  little  more  than  a  girl,  she 
heard  of  the  need  of  teachers  in  the  South.  She 
went  to  the  state  of  Mississippi  and  began  teaching 
there.  Later  she  taught  in  the  city  of  Memphis. 
While  teaching  in  Mississippi,  one  of  her  pupils  be- 
came ill  with  smallpox.  Every  one  in  the  com- 
munity was  so  frightened  that  no  one  would  nurse 
the  boy.  Miss  Davidson  closed  her  school  and  re- 
mained by  the  bedside  of  the  boy  night  and  day  until 
he  recovered.  While  she  was  at  her  Ohio  home  on 
her  vacation,  the  worst  epidemic  of  yellow  fever  broke 
out  in  Memphis,  Tenn.,  that  perhaps  has  ever  oc- 
curred in  the  South.  When  she  heard  of  this,  she  at 
once  telegraphed  the  Mayor  of  Memphis,  offering 


TEACHING   SCHOOL  125 

her  services  as  a  yellow-fever  nurse,  although  she 
had  never  had  the  disease. 

Miss  Davidson's  experience  in  the  South  showed 
her  that  the  people  needed  something  more  than 
mere  book-learning.  She  heard  of  the  Hampton 
system  of  education,  and  decided  that  this  was  what 
she  wanted  in  order  to  prepare  herself  for  better  work 
in  the  South.  The  attention  of  Mrs.  Mary  Hem- 
enway,  of  Boston,  was  attracted  to  her  rare  ability. 
Through  Mrs.  Hemenway's  kindness  and  generosity, 
Miss  Davidson,  after  graduating  at  Hampton,  re- 
ceived an  opportunity  to  complete  a  two  years' 
course  of  training  at  the  Massachusetts  State  Nor- 
mal School  at  Framingham. 

Before  she  went  to  Framingham,  some  one  sug- 
gested to  Miss  Davidson  that,  since  she  was  so  very 
light  in  colour,  she  might  find  it  more  comfortable 
not  to  be  known  as  a  coloured  woman  in  this  school 
in  Massachusetts.  She  at  once  replied  that  under 
no  circumstances  and  for  no  considerations  would 
she  consent  to  deceive  any  one  in  regard  to  her 
racial  identity. 

Soon  after  her  graduation  from  the  Framingham 
institution,  Miss  Davidson  came  to  Tuskegee,  bring- 
ing into  the  school  many  valuable  and  fresh  ideas  as 
to  the  best  methods  of  teaching,  as  well  as  a  rare 
moral   character  and  a  life   of  unselfishness  that   I 


126  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

think  has  seldom  been  equalled.  No  single  individ- 
ual did  more  toward  laying  the  foundations  of  the 
Tuskegee  Institute  so  as  to  insure  the  successful  work 
that  has  been  done  there  than  Olivia  A.  Davidson. 
Miss  Davidson  and  I  began  consulting  as  to  the 
future  of  the  school  from  the  first.  The  students 
were  making  progress  in  learning  books  and  in  de- 
veloping their  minds ;  but  it  became  apparent  at 
once  that,  if  we  were  to  make  any  permanent  impres- 
sion upon  those  who  had  come  to  us  for  training, 
we  must  do  something  besides  teach  them  mere 
books.  The  students  had  come  from  homes  where 
they  had  had  no  opportunities  for  lessons  which 
would  teach  them  how  to  care  for  their  bodies. 
With  few  exceptions,  the  homes  in  Tuskegee  in 
which  the  students  boarded  were  but  little  improve- 
ment upon  those  from  which  they  had  come.  We 
wanted  to  teach  the  students  how  to  bathe ;  how  to 
care  for  their  teeth  and  clothing.  We  wanted  to  teach 
them  what  to  eat,  and  how  to  eat  it  properly,  and 
how  to  care  for  their  rooms.  Aside  from  this, 
we  wanted  to  give  them  such  a  practical  knowledge 
of  some  one  industry,  together  with  the  spirit  of  in- 
dustry, thrift,  and  economy,  that  they  would  be  sure 
of  knowing  how  to  make  a  living  after  they  had  left 
us.  We  wanted  to  teach  them  to  study  actual  things 
instead  of  mere  books  alone. 


TEACHING   SCHOOL  127 

We  found  that  the  most  of  our  students  came 
from  the  country  districts,  where  agriculture  in  some 
form  or  other  was  the  main  dependence  of  the 
people.  We  learned  that  about  eighty-five  per  cent 
of  the  coloured  people  in  the  Gulf  states  depended 
upon  agriculture  for  their  living.  Since  this  was 
true,  we  wanted  to  be  careful  not  to  educate  our 
students  out  of  sympathy  with  agricultural  life,  so 
that  they  would  be  attracted  from  the  country  to  the 
cities,  and  yield  to  the  temptation  of  trying  to  live 
by  their  wits.  We  wanted  to  give  them  such  an 
education  as  would  fit  a  large  proportion  of  them 
to  be  teachers,  and  at  the  same  time  cause  them  to 
return  to  the  plantation  districts  and  show  the 
people  there  how  to  put  new  energy  and  new  ideas 
into  farming,  as  well  as  into  the  intellectual  and 
moral  and  religious  life  of  the  people. 

All  these  ideas  and  needs  crowded  themselves 
upon  us  with  a  seriousness  that  seemed  well-nigh 
overwhelming.  What  were  we  to  do  ?  We  had 
only  the  little  old  shanty  and  the  abandoned  church 
which  the  good  coloured  people  of  the  town  of 
Tuskegee  had  kindly  loaned  us  for  the  accommoda- 
tion of  the  classes.  The  number  of  students  was 
increasing  daily.  The  more  we  saw  of  them,  and 
the  more  we  travelled  through  the  country  districts, 
the  more  we  saw  that  our  efforts  were  reaching,  to 


128  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

only  a  partial  degree,  the  actual  needs  of  the  people 
whom  we  wanted  to  lift  up  through  the  medium  of 
the  students  whom  we  should  educate  and  send  out 
as  leaders. 

The  more  we  talked  with  the  students,  who  were 
then  coming  to  us  from  several  parts  of  the  state, 
the  more  we  found  that  the  chief  ambition  among 
a  large  proportion  of  them  was  to  get  an  education 
so  that  they  would  not  have  to  work  any  longer 
with  their  hands. 

This  is  illustrated  by  a  story  told  of  a  coloured 
man  in  Alabama,  who,  one  hot  day  in  July,  while 
he  was  at  work  in  a  cotton-field,  suddenly  stopped, 
and,  looking  toward  the  skies,  said :  "  O  Lawd,  de 
cotton  am  so  grassy,  de  work  am  so  hard,  and  the 
sun  am  so  hot  dat  I  b'lieve  dis  darky  am  called 
to  preach  !  " 

About  three  months  after  the  opening  of  the 
school,  and  at  the  time  when  we  were  in  the  great- 
est anxiety  about  our  work,  there  came  into  the 
market  for  sale  an  old  and  abandoned  plantation 
which  was  situated  about  a  mile  from  the  town  of 
Tuskegee.  The  mansion  house  —  or  "big  house," 
as  it  would  have  been  called  —  which  had  been 
occupied  by  the  owners  during  slavery,  had  been 
burned.     After  making  a  careful  examination  of  this 


TEACHING   SCHOOL  129 

place,  it  seemed  to  be  just  the  location  that  we  wanted 
in  order  to  make  our  work  effective  and  permanent. 

But  how  were  we  to  get  it  ?  The  price  asked  for 
it  was  very  little — only  rive  hundred  dollars  —  but 
we  had  no  money,  and  we  were  strangers  in  the 
town  and  had  no  credit.  The  owner  of  the  land 
agreed  to  let  us  occupy  the  place  if  we  could  make  a 
payment  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  down,  with 
the  understanding  that  the  remaining  two  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars  must  be  paid  within  a  year.  Although 
five  hundred  dollars  was  cheap  for  the  land,  it  was  a 
large  sum  when  one  did  not  have  any  part  of  it. 

In  the  midst  of  the  difficulty  I  summoned  a  great 
deal  of  courage  and  wrote  to  my  friend  General 
J.  F.  B.  Marshall,  the  Treasurer  of  the  Hampton 
Institute,  putting  the  situation  before  him  and  be- 
seeching him  to  lend  me  the  two  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars  on  my  own  personal  responsibility.  Within 
a  few  days  a  reply  came  to  the  effect  that  he  had 
no  authority  to  lend  me  money  belonging  to  the 
Hampton  Institute,  but  that  he  would  gladly  lend 
me  the  amount  needed  from  his  own  personal  funds. 

I  confess  that  the  securing  of  this  money  in  this 
way  was  a  great  surprise  to  me,  as  well  as  a  source 
of  gratification.  Up  to  that  time  I  never  had  had 
in  my  possession  so  much  money  as  one  hundred 
dollars  at  a  time,  and  the  loan  which  I   had  asked 


130  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

General  Marshall  for  seemed  a  tremendously  large 
sum  to  me.  The  fact  of  my  being  responsible  for 
the  repaying  of  such  a  large  amount  of  money 
weighed  very  heavily  upon  me. 

I  lost  no  time  in  getting  ready  to  move  the 
school  on  to  the  new  farm.  At  the  time  we  oc- 
cupied the  place  there  were  standing  upon  it  a 
cabin,  formerly  used  as  the  dining  room,  an  old 
kitchen,  a  stable,  and  an  old  hen-house.  Within 
a  few  weeks  we  had  all  of  these  structures  in  use. 
The  stable  was  repaired  and  used  as  a  recitation- 
room,  and  very  presently  the  hen-house  was  utilized 
for  the  same  purpose. 

I  recall  that  one  morning,  when  I  told  an  old 
coloured  man  who  lived  near,  and  who  sometimes 
helped  me,  that  our  school  had  grown  so  large  that 
it  would  be  necessary  for  us  to  use  the  hen-house 
for  school  purposes,  and  that  I  wanted  him  to  help 
me  give  it  a  thorough  cleaning  out  the  next  day,  he 
replied,  in  the  most  earnest  manner :  "  What  you 
mean,  boss  ?  You  sholy  ain't  gwine  clean  out  de 
hen-house  in  de  ^jy-time  ?  " 

Nearly  all  the  work  of  getting  the  new  location 
ready  for  school  purposes  was  done  by  the  students 
after  school  was  over  in  the  afternoon.  As  soon  as 
we  got  the  cabins  in  condition  to  be  used,  I  deter- 
mined to  clear  up  some  land  so  that  we  could  plant 


TEACHING   SCHOOL  131 

a  crop.  When  I  explained  my  plan  to  the  young 
men,  I  noticed  that  they  did  not  seem  to  take  to  it 
very  kindly.  It  was  hard  for  them  to  see  the  con- 
nection between  clearing  land  and  an  education. 
Besides,  many  of  them  had  been  school-teachers, 
and  they  questioned  whether  or  not  clearing  land 
would  be  in  keeping  with  their  dignity.  In  order 
to  relieve  them  from  any  embarrassment,  each  after- 
noon after  school  I  took  my  axe  and  led  the  way  to 
the  woods.  When  they  saw  that  I  was  not  afraid 
or  ashamed  to  work,  they  began  to  assist  with  more 
enthusiasm.  We  kept  at  the  work  each  afternoon, 
until  we  had  cleared  about  twenty  acres  and  had 
planted  a  crop. 

In  the  meantime  Miss  Davidson  was  devising 
plans  to  repay  the  loan.  Her  first  effort  was  made 
by  holding  festivals,  or  "suppers."  She  made  a 
personal  canvass  among  the  white  and  coloured 
families  in  the  town  of  Tuskegee,  and  got  them  to 
agree  to  give  something,  like  a  cake,  a  chicken, 
bread,  or  pies,  that  could  be  sold  at  the  festival. 
Of  course  the  coloured  people  were  glad  to  give  any- 
thing that  they  could  spare,  but  I  want  to  add  that 
Miss  Davidson  did  not  apply  to  a  single  white 
family,  so  far  as  I  now  remember,  that  failed  to 
donate  something;  and  in  many  ways  the  white 
families  showed  their  interest  in  the  school. 


132  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

Several  of  these  festivals  were  held,  and  quite  a 
little  sum  of  money  was  raised.  A  canvass  was 
also  made  among  the  people  of  both  races  for  direct 
gifts  of  money,  and  most  of  those  applied  to  gave 
small  sums.  It  was  often  pathetic  to  note  the  gifts 
of  the  older  coloured  people,  most  of  whom  had 
spent  their  best  days  in  slavery.  Sometimes  they 
would  give  five  cents,  sometimes  twenty-five  cents. 
Sometimes  the  contribution  was  a  quilt,  or  a  quan- 
tity of  sugarcane.  I  recall  one  old  coloured  woman, 
who  was  about  seventy  years  of  age,  who  came  to 
see  me  when  we  were  raising  money  to  pay  for  the 
farm.  She  hobbled  into  the  room  where  I  was, 
leaning  on  a  cane.  She  was  clad  in  rags  ;  but  they 
were  clean.  She  said :  "  Mr.  Washin'ton,  God 
knows  I  spent  de  bes'  days  of  my  life  in  slavery. 
God  knows  I's  ignorant  an'  poor;  but,"  she  added, 
"  I  knows  what  you  an'  Miss  Davidson  is  tryin'  to 
do.  I  knows  you  is  tryin'  to  make  better  men  an' 
better  women  for  de  coloured  race.  I  ain't  got  no 
money,  but  I  wants  you  to  take  dese  six  eggs,  what 
I's  been  savin'  up,  an'  I  wants  you  to  put  dese  six 
eggs  into  de  eddication  of  dese  boys  an'  gals." 

Since  the  work  at  Tuskegee  started,  it  has  been 
my  privilege  to  receive  many  gifts  for  the  benefit 
of  the  institution,  but  never  any,  I  think,  that 
touched  me  so  deeply  as  this  one. 


CHAPTER    IX 

ANXIOUS    DAYS  AND    SLEEPLESS    NIGHTS 

THE  coming  of  Christmas,  that  first  year 
of  our  residence  in  Alabama,  gave  us  an 
opportunity  to  get  a  farther  insight  into 
the  real  life  of  the  people.  The  first  thing  that 
reminded  us  that  Christmas  had  arrived  was  the 
"  foreday  "  visits  of  scores  of  children  rapping  at 
our  doors,  asking  for  "  Chris'mus  gifts  !  Chris'mus 
gifts  !  "  Between  the  hours  of  two  o'clock  and  five 
o'clock  in  the  morning  I  presume  that  we  must 
have  had  a  half-hundred  such  calls.  This  custom 
prevails  throughout  this  portion  of  the  South 
to-day. 

During  the  days  of  slavery  it  was  a  custom  quite 
generally  observed  throughout  all  the  Southern 
states  to  give  the  coloured  people  a  week  of  holiday 
at  Christmas,  or  to  allow  the  holiday  to  continue  as 
long  as  the  "  yule  log"  lasted.  The  male  members 
of  the  race,  and  often  the  female  members,  were 
expected  to  get  drunk.  We  found  that  for  a  whole 
week  the  coloured  people  in  and  around  Tuskegee 

133 


134  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

dropped  work  the  day  before  Christmas,  and  that 
it  was  difficult  to  get  any  one  to  perform  any  ser- 
vice from  the  time  they  stopped  work  until  after 
the  New  Year.  Persons  who  at  other  times  did 
not  use  strong  drink  thought  it  quite  the  proper 
thing  to  indulge  in  it  rather  freely  during  the 
Christmas  week.  There  was  a  widespread  hilarity, 
and  a  free  use  of  guns,  pistols,  and  gunpowder 
generally.  The  sacredness  of  the  season  seemed  to 
have  been  almost  wholly  lost  sight  of. 

During  this  first  Christmas  vacation  I  went  some 
distance  from  the  town  to  visit  the  people  on  one 
of  the  large  plantations.  In  their  poverty  and 
ignorance  it  was  pathetic  to  see  their  attempts  to 
get  joy  out  of  the  season  that  in  most  parts  of  the 
country  is  so  sacred  and  so  dear  to  the  heart.  In 
one  cabin  I  noticed  that  all  that  the  five  children 
had  to  remind  them  of  the  coming  of  Christ  was  a 
single  bunch  of  firecrackers,  which  they  had  divided 
among  them.  In  another  cabin,  where  there  were 
at  least  a  half-dozen  persons,  they  had  only  ten 
cents'  worth  of  ginger-cakes,  which  had  been  bought 
in  the  store  the  day  before.  In  another  family 
they  had  only  a  few  pieces  of  sugarcane.  In  still 
another  cabin  I  found  nothing  but  a  new  jug  of 
cheap,  mean  whiskey,  which  the  husband  and  wife 
were  making  free  use  of,  notwithstanding  the  fact 


ANXIOUS  DAYS  AND  SLEEPLESS  NIGHTS     135 

that  the  husband  was  one  of  the  local  ministers. 
In  a  few  instances  I  found  that  the  people  had 
gotten  hold  of  some  bright-coloured  cards  that  had 
been  designed  for  advertising  purposes,  and  were 
making  the  most  of  those.  In  other  homes  some 
member  of  the  family  had  bought  a  new  pistol.  In 
the  majority  of  cases  there  was  nothing  to  be  seen 
in  the  cabin  to  remind  one  of  the  coming  of  the 
Saviour,  except  that  the  people  had  ceased  work  in 
the  fields  and  were  lounging  about  their  homes. 
At  night,  during  Christmas  week,  they  usually  had 
what  they  called  a  "  frolic,"  in  some  cabin  on  the 
plantation.  This  meant  a  kind  of  rough  dance, 
where  there  was  likely  to  be  a  good  deal  of  whiskey 
used,  and  where  there  might  be  some  shooting  or 
cutting  with  razors. 

While  I  was  making  this  Christmas  visit  I  met 
an  old  coloured  man  who  was  one  of  the  numerous 
local  preachers,  who  tried  to  convince  me,  from  the 
experience  Adam  had  in  the  Garden  of  Eden,  that 
God  had  cursed  all  labour,  and  that,  therefore,  it  was 
a  sin  for  any  man  to  work.  For  that  reason  this 
man  sought  to  do  as  little  work  as  possible.  He 
seemed  at  that  time  to  be  supremely  happy,  because 
he  was  living,  as  he  expressed  it,  through  one  week 
that  was  free  from  sin. 

In  the  school  we  made  a  special  effort  to  teach 


136  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

our  students  the  meaning  of  Christmas,  and  to  give 
them  lessons  in  its  proper  observance.  In  this  we 
have  been  successful  to  a  degree  that  makes  me 
feel  safe  in  saying  that  the  season  now  has  a  new 
meaning,  not  only  through  all  that  immediate  region, 
but,  in  a  measure,  wherever  our  graduates  have 
gone.     --' 

At  the  present  time  one  of  the  most  satisfactory 
features  of  the  Christmas  and  Thanksgiving  seasons 
at  Tuskegee  is  the  unselfish  and  beautiful  way  in 
which  our  graduates  and  students  spend  their  time 
in  administering  to  the  comfort  and  happiness  of 
others,  especially  the  unfortunate.  Not  long  ago 
some  of  our  young  men  spent  a  holiday  in  rebuild- 
ing a  cabin  for  a  helpless  coloured  woman  who  is 
about  seventy-five  years  old.  At  another  time  I  re- 
member that  I  made  it  known  in  chapel,  one  night, 
that  a  very  poor  student  was  suffering  from  cold,  be- 
cause he  needed  a  coat.  The  next  morning  two  coats 
were  sent  to  my  office  for  him. 

I  have  referred  to  the  disposition  on  the  part  of 
the  white  people  in  the  town  of  Tuskegee  and 
vicinity  to  help  the  school.  From  the  first,  I 
resolved  to  make  the  school  a  real  part  of  the  com- 
munity in  which  it  was  located.  I  was  determined 
that  no  one  should  have  the  feeling  that  it  was  a 
foreign  institution,  dropped  down  in  the  midst  of 


ANXIOUS  DAYS  AND  SLEEPLESS  NIGHTS    137 

the  people,  for  which  they  had  no  responsibility 
and  in  which  they  had  no  interest.  I  noticed  that 
the  very  fact  that  they  had  been  asked  to  contribute 
toward  the  purchase  of  the  land  made  them  begin 
to  feel  as  if  it  was  going  to  be  their  school,  to  a 
large  degree.  I  noted  that  just  in  proportion  as 
we  made  the  white  people  feel  that  the  institution 
was  a  part  of  the  life  of  the  community,  and  that, 
while  we  wanted  to  make  friends  in  Boston,  for 
example,  we  also  wanted  to  make  white  friends  in 
Tuskegee,  and  that  we  wanted  to  make  the  school 
of  real  service  to  all  the  people,  their  attitude  toward 
the  school  became  favourable. 

Perhaps  I  might  add  right  here,  what  I  hope  to 
demonstrate  later,  that,  so  far  as  I  know,  the  Tuske- 
gee school  at  the  present  time  has  no  warmer  and 
more  enthusiastic  friends  anywhere  than  it  has 
among  the  white  citizens  of  Tuskegee  and  through- 
out the  state  of  Alabama  and  the  entire  South. 
From  the  first,  I  have  advised  our  people  in  the 
South  to  make  friends  in  every  straightforward, 
manly  way  with  their  next-door  neighbour,  whether 
he  be  a  black  man  or  a  white  man.  I  have  also  ad- 
vised them,  where  no  principle  is  at  stake,  to  con- 
sult the  interests  of  their  local  communities,  and  to 
advise  with  their  friends  in  regard  to  their  voting. 

For    several    months    the  work  of  securing  the 


138  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

money  with  which  to  pay  for  the  farm  went  on  with- 
out ceasing.  At  the  end  of  three  months  enough 
was  secured  to  repay  the  loan  of  two  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars  to  General  Marshall,  and  within  two 
months  more  we  had  secured  the  entire  five  hun- 
dred dollars  and  had  received  a  deed  of  the  one  hun- 
dred acres  of  land.  This  gave  us  a  great  deal  of 
satisfaction.  It  was  not  only  a  source  of  satisfaction 
to  secure  a  permanent  location  for  the  school,  but 
it  was  equally  satisfactory  to  know  that  the  greater 
part  of  the  money  with  which  it  was  paid  for  had 
been  gotten  from  the  white  and  coloured  people  in 
the  town  of  Tuskegee.  The  most  of  this  money 
was  obtained  by  holding  festivals  and  concerts,  and 
from  small  individual  donations. 

Our  next  effort  was  in  the  direction  of  increasing 
the  cultivation  of  the  land,  so  as  to  secure  some 
return  from  it,  and  at  the  same  time  give  the  stu- 
dents training  in  agriculture.  All  the  industries  at 
Tuskegee  have  been  started  in  natural  and  logical 
order,  growing  out  of  the  needs  of  a  community 
settlement.  We  began  with  farming,  because  we 
wanted  something  to  eat. 

Many  of  the  students,  also,  were  able  to  remain 
in  school  but  a  few  weeks  at  a  time,  because  they 
had  so  little  money  with  which  to  pay  their  board. 
Thus  another  object  which  made  it  desirable  to  get 


ANXIOUS  DAYS  AND  SLEEPLESS  NIGHTS    139 

an  industrial  system  started  was  in  order  to  make 
it  available  as  a  means  of  helping  the  students  to 
earn  money  enough  so  that  they  might  be  able  to 
remain  in  school  during  the  nine  months'  session 
of  the  school  year. 

The  first  animal  that  the  school  came  into  pos- 
session of  was  an  old  blind  horse  given  us  by  one 
of  the  white  citizens  of  Tuskegee.  Perhaps  I  may 
add  here  that  at  the  present  time  the  school  owns 
over  two  hundred  horses,  colts,  mules,  cows,  calves, 
and  oxen,  and  about  seven  hundred  hogs  and  pigs, 
as  well  as  a  large  number  of  sheep  and  goats. 

The  school  was  constantly  growing  in  numbers, 
so  much  so  that,  after  we  had  got  the  farm  paid  for, 
the  cultivation  of  the  land  begun,  and  the  old  cabins 
which  we  had  found  on  the  place  somewhat  repaired, 
we  turned  our  attention  toward  providing  a  large, 
substantial  building.  After  having  given  a  good 
deal  of  thought  to  the  subject,  we  finally  had  the 
plans  drawn  for  a  building  that  was  estimated  to 
cost  about  six  thousand  dollars.  This  seemed  to  us 
a  tremendous  sum,  but  we  knew  that  the  school  must 
go  backward  or  forward,  and  that  our  work  would 
mean  little  unless  we  could  get  hold  of  the  students 
in  their  home  life. 

One  incident  which  occurred  about  this  time  gave 
me  a  great  deal   of  satisfaction   as  well   as  surprise. 


140  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

When  it  became  known  in  the  town  that  we  were 
discussing  the  plans  for  a  new,  large  building,  a 
Southern  white  man  who  was  operating  a  sawmill 
not  far  from  Tuskegee  came  to  me  and  said  that  he 
would  gladly  put  all  the  lumber  necessary  to  erect 
the  building  on  the  grounds,  with  no  other  guarantee 
for  payment  than  my  word  that  it  would  be  paid 
for  when  we  secured  some  money.  I  told  the  man 
frankly  that  at  the  time  we  did  not  have  in  our 
hands  one  dollar  of  the  money  needed.  Notwith- 
standing this,  he  insisted  on  being  allowed  to  put 
the  lumber  on  the  grounds.  After  we  had  secured 
some  portion  of  the  money  we  permitted  him  to  do 
this. 

Miss  Davidson  again  began  the  work  of  securing 
in  various  ways  small  contributions  for  the  new 
building  from  the  white  and  coloured  people  in  and 
near  Tuskegee.  I  think  I  never  saw  a  community 
of  people  so  happy  over  anything  as  were  the  col- 
oured people  over  the  prospect  of  this  new  building. 
One  day,  when  we  were  holding  a  meeting  to  secure 
funds  for  its  erection,  an  old,  ante-bellum  coloured 
man  came  a  distance  of  twelve  miles  and  brought  in 
his  ox-cart  a  large  hog.  When  the  meeting  was  in 
progress,  he  rose  in  the  midst  of  the  company  and 
said  that  he  had  no  money  which  he  could  give,  but 
that  he  had  raised  two  fine  hogs,  and  that  he  had 


ANXIOUS  DAYS  AND  SLEEPLESS  NIGHTS    141 

brought  one  of  them  as  a  contribution  toward  the 
expenses  of  the  building.  He  closed  his  announce- 
ment by  saying :  "  Any  nigger  that's  got  any  love 
for  his  race,  or  any  respect  for  himself,  will  bring  a 
hog  to  the  next  meeting."  Quite  a  number  of  men 
in  the  community  also  volunteered  to  give  several 
days'  work,  each,  toward  the  erection  of  the  build- 
ing. 

After  we  had  secured  all  the  help  that  we  could 
in  Tuskegee,  Miss  Davidson  decided  to  go  North 
for  the  purpose  of  securing  additional  funds.  For 
weeks  she  visited  individuals  and  spoke  in  churches 
and  before  Sunday  schools  and  other  organizations. 
She  found  this  work  quite  trying,  and  often  embar- 
rassing. The  school  was  not  known,  but  she  was 
not  long  in  winning  her  way  into  the  confidence  of 
the  best  people  in  the  North. 

The  first  gift  from  any  Northern  person  was 
received  from  a  New  York  lady  whom  Miss  David- 
son met  on  the  boat  that  was  bringing  her  North. 
They  fell  into  a  conversation,  and  the  Northern 
lady  became  so  much  interested  in  the  effort  being 
made  at  Tuskegee  that  before  they  parted  Miss 
Davidson  was  handed  a  check  for  fifty  dollars.  For 
some  time  before  our  marriage,  and  also  after  it, 
Miss  Davidson  kept  up  the  work  of  securing  money 
in  the  North  and  in  the  South  by  interesting  people 


142  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

by  personal  visits  and  through  correspondence.  At 
the  same  time  she  kept  in  close  touch  with  the 
work  at  Tuskegee,  as  lady  principal  and  classroom 
teacher.  In  addition  to  this,  she  worked  among  the 
older  people  in  and  near  Tuskegee,  and  taught  a 
Sunday  school  class  in  the  town.  She  was  never 
very  strong,  but  never  seemed  happy  unless  she  was 
giving  all  of  her  strength  to  the  cause  which  she 
loved.  Often,  at  night,  after  spending  the  day  in 
going  from  door  to  door  trying  to  interest  persons 
in  the  work  at  Tuskegee,  she  would  be  so  exhausted 
that  she  could  not  undress  herself.  A  lady  upon 
whom  she  called,  in  Boston,  afterward  told  me  that 
at  one  time  when  Miss  Davidson  called  to  see  her 
and  sent  up  her  card  the  lady  was  detained  a  little 
before  she  could  see  Miss  Davidson,  and  when  she 
entered  the  parlour  she  found  Miss  Davidson  so 
exhausted  that  she  had  fallen  asleep. 

While  putting  up  our  first  building,  which  was 
named  Porter  Hall,  after  Mr.  A.  H.  Porter,  of 
Brooklyn,  N.Y.,  who  gave  a  generous  sum  toward 
its  erection,  the  need  for  money  became  acute.*  I 
had  given  one  of  our  creditors  a  promise  that  upon 
a  certain  day  he  should  be  paid  four  hundred  dol- 
lars. On  the  morning  of  that  day  we  did  not  have 
a  dollar.  The  mail  arrived  at  the  school  at  ten 
o'clock,  and  in  this  mail  there  was  a  check  sent  by 


ANXIOUS  DAYS  AND  SLEEPLESS  NIGHTS    143 

Miss  Davidson  for  exactly  four  hundred  dollars.  I 
could  relate  many  instances  of  almost  the  same  char- 
acter. This  four  hundred  dollars  was  given  by  two 
ladies  in  Boston.  Two  years  later,  when  the  work 
at  Tuskegee  had  grown  considerably,  and  when  we 
were  in  the  midst  of  a  season  when  we  were  so 
much  in  need  of  money  that  the  future  looked 
doubtful  and  gloomy,  the  same  two  Boston  ladies 
sent  us  six  thousand  dollars.  Words  cannot  de- 
scribe our  surprise,  or  the  encouragement  that  the 
gift  brought  to  us.  Perhaps  I  might  add  here  that 
for  fourteen  years  these  same  friends  have  sent  us 
six  thousand  dollars  each  year. 

As  soon  as  the  plans  were  drawn  for  the  new 
building,  the  students  began  digging  out  the  earth 
where  the  foundations  were  to  be  laid,  working  after 
the  regular  classes  were  over.  They  had  not  fully 
outgrown  the  idea  that  it  was  hardly  the  proper 
thing  for  them  to  use  their  hands,  since  they  had 
come  there,  as  one  of  them  expressed  it,  "  to  be 
educated,  and  not  to  work."  Gradually,  though,  I 
noted  with  satisfaction  that  a  sentiment  in  favour 
of  work  was  gaining  ground.  After  a  few  weeks  of 
hard  work  the  foundations  were  ready,  and  a  day 
was  appointed  for  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone. 

When  it  is  considered  that  the  laying  of  this 
corner-stone  took  place  in  the  heart  of  the  South, 


144  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

in  the  "  Black  Belt,"  in  the  centre  of  that  part  of 
our  country  that  was  most  devoted  to  slavery ;  that 
at  that  time  slavery  had  been  abolished  only  about 
sixteen  years  ;  that  only  sixteen  years  before  that 
no  Negro  could  be  taught  from  books  without  the 
teacher  receiving  the  condemnation  of  the  law  or  of 
public  sentiment  —  when  all  this  is  considered,  the 
scene  that  was  witnessed  on  that  spring  day  at 
Tuskegee  was  a  remarkable  one.  I  believe  there 
are  few  places  in  the  world  where  it  could  have 
taken  place. 

The  principal  address  was  delivered  by  the  Hon. 
Waddy  Thompson,  the  Superintendent  of  Educa- 
tion for  the  county.  About  the  corner-stone  were 
gathered  the  teachers,  the  students,  their  parents  and 
friends,  the  county  officials  —  who  were  white  —  and 
all  the  leading  white  men  in  that  vicinity,  together 
with  many  of  the  black  men  and  women  whom 
these  same  white  people  but  a  few  years  before  had 
held  a  title  to  as  property.  The  members  of  both 
races  were  anxious  to  exercise  the  privilege  of  plac- 
ing under  the  corner-stone  some  memento. 

Before  the  building  was  completed  we  passed 
through  some  very  trying  seasons.  More  than 
once  our  hearts  were  made  to  bleed,  as  it  were,  be- 
cause bills  were  falling  due  that  we  did  not  have  the 
money  to  meet.     Perhaps  no  one  who  has  not  gone 


ANXIOUS  DAYS  AND  SLEEPLESS  NIGHTS    145 

through  the  experience,  month  after  month,  of  try- 
ing to  erect  buildings  and  provide  equipment  for  a 
school  when  no  one  knew  where  the  money  was  to 
come  from,  can  properly  appreciate  the  difficulties 
under  which  we  laboured.  During  the  first  years  at 
Tuskegee  I  recall  that  night  after  night  I  would  roll 
and  toss  on  my  bed,  without  sleep,  because  of  the 
anxiety  and  uncertainty  which  we  were  in  regarding 
money.  I  knew  that,  in  a  large  degree,  we  were 
trying  an  experiment  —  that  of  testing  whether  or 
not  it  was  possible  for  Negroes  to  build  up  and  con- 
trol the  affairs  of  a  large  educational  institution.  I 
knew  that  if  we  failed  it  would  injure  the  whole 
race.  I  knew  that  the  presumption  was  against  us. 
I  knew  that  in  the  case  of  white  people  beginning 
such  an  enterprise  it  would  be  taken  for  granted  that 
they  were  going  to  succeed,  but  in  our  case  I  felt 
that  people  would  be  surprised  if  we  succeeded. 
All  this  made  a  burden  which  pressed  down  on 
us,  sometimes,  it  seemed,  at  the  rate  of  a  thousand 
pounds  to  the  square  inch. 

In  all  our  difficulties  and  anxieties,  however,  I 
never  went  to  a  white  or  a  black  person  in  the  town 
of  Tuskegee  for  any  assistance  that  was  in  their 
power  to  render,  without  being  helped  according  to 
their  means.  More  than  a  dozen  times,  when  bills 
figuring  up  into  the  hundreds  of  dollars  were  falling 


146  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

due,  I  applied  to  the  white  men  of  Tuskegee  for 
small  loans,  often  borrowing  small  amounts  from  as 
many  as  a  half-dozen  persons,  to  meet  our  obliga- 
tions. One  thing  I  was  determined  to  do  from  the 
first,  and  that  was  to  keep  the  credit  of  the  school 
high  ;  and  this,  I  think  I  can  say  without  boasting, 
we  have  done  all  through  these  years. 

I  shall  always  remember  a  bit  of  advice  given  me 
by  Mr.  George  W.  Campbell,  the  white  man  to 
whom  I  have  referred  as  the  one  who  induced  Gen- 
eral Armstrong  to  send  me  to  Tuskegee.  Soon 
after  I  entered  upon  the  work  Mr.  Campbell  said 
to  me,  in  his  fatherly  way  :  "  Washington,  always 
remember  that  credit  is  capital." 

At  one  time  when  we  were  in  the  greatest  distress 
for  money  that  we  ever  experienced,  I  placed  the 
situation  frankly  before  General  Armstrong.  With- 
out hesitation  he  gave  me  his  personal  check  for  all 
the  money  which  he  had  saved  for  his  own  use. 
This  was  not  the  only  time  that  General  Armstrong 
helped  Tuskegee  in  this  way.  I  do  not  think  I 
have  ever  made  this  fact  public  before. 

During  the  summer  of  1882,  at  the  end  of  the 
first  year's  work  of  the  school,  I  was  married  to 
Miss  Fannie  N.  Smith,  of  Maiden,  W.  Va.  We 
began  keeping  house  in  Tuskegee  early  in  the 
fall.     This  made  a  home  for  our  teachers,  who  now 


ANXIOUS  DAYS  AND  SLEEPLESS  NIGHTS    147 

had  been  increased  to  four  in  number.  My  wife 
was  also  a  graduate  of  the  Hampton  Institute. 
After  earnest  and  constant  work  in  the  interests  of 
the  school,  together  with  her  housekeeping  duties, 
my  wife  passed  away  in  May,  1884.  One  child, 
Portia  M.  Washington,  was  born  during  our 
marriage. 

From  the  first,  my  wife  most  earnestly  devoted 
her  thoughts  and  time  to  the  work  of  the  school, 
and  was  completely  one  with  me  in  every  interest 
and  ambition.  She  passed  away,  however,  before 
she  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  what  the  school 
was  designed  to  be. 


CHAPTER   X 


A    HARDER    TASK    THAN    MAKING    BRICKS    WITHOUT 
STRAW 


F 


"^ROM  the  very  beginning,  at  Tuskegee,  I  was 
determined  to  have  the  students  do  not  only 
the  agricultural  and  domestic  work,  but  to 
have  them  erect  their  own  buildings.  My  plan  was 
to  have  them,  while  performing  this  service,  taught 
the  latest  and  best  methods  of  labour,  so  that  the 
school  would  not  only  get  the  benefit  of  their  efforts, 
but  the  students  themselves  would  be  taught  to  see 
not  only  utility  in  labour,  but  beauty  and  dignity ; 
would  be  taught,  in  fact,  how  to  lift  labour  up  from 
mere  drudgery  and  toil,  and  would  learn  to  love 
work  for  its  own  sake.  My  plan  was  not  to  teach 
them  to  work  in  the  old  way,  but  to  show  them  how 
to  make  the  forces  of  nature  —  air,  water,  steam, 
electricity,  horse-power  —  assist  them  in  their  labour. 
At  first  many  advised  against  the  experiment  of 
having  the  buildings  erected  by  the  labour  of  the  stu- 
dents, but  I  was  determined  to  stick  to  it.  I  told 
those  who  doubted  the  wisdom  of  the  plan  that  I 
knew  that  our  first  buildings  would  not  be  so  com- 


MAKING    BRICKS   WITHOUT   STRAW     149 

fortable  or  so  complete  in  their  finish  as  buildings 
erected  by  the  experienced  hands  of  outside  work- 
men, but  that  in  the  teaching  of  civilization,  self- 
help,  and  self-reliance,  the  erection  of  the  buildings 
by  the  students  themselves  would  more  than  com- 
pensate for  any  lack  of  comfort  or  fine  finish. 

I  further  told  those  who  doubted  the  wisdom  of 
this  plan,  that  the  majority  of  our  students  came  to 
us  in  poverty,  from  the  cabins  of  the  cotton,  sugar, 
and  rice  plantations  of  the  South,  and  that  while  I 
knew  it  would  please  the  students  very  much  to 
place  them  at  once  in  finely  constructed  buildings,  I 
felt  that  it  would  be  following  out  a  more  natural 
process  of  development  to  teach  them  how  to  con- 
struct their  own  buildings.  Mistakes  I  knew  would 
be  made,  but  these  mistakes  would  teach  us  valuable 
lessons  for  the  future. 

During  the  now  nineteen  years'  existence  of  the 
Tuskegee  school,  the  plan  of  having  the  buildings 
erected  by  student  labour  has  been  adhered  to.  In 
this  time  forty  buildings,  counting  small  and  large, 
have  been  built,  and  all  except  four  are  almost 
wholly  the  product  of  student  labour.  As  an  addi- 
tional result,  hundreds  of  men  are  now  scattered 
throughout  the  South  who  received  their  knowl- 
edge of  mechanics  while  being  taught  how  to  erect 
these    buildings.       Skill    and    knowledge    are    now 


150  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

handed  down  from  one  set  of  students  to  another 
in  this  way,  until  at  the  present  time  a  building  of 
any  description  or  size  can  be  constructed  wholly  by 
our  instructors  and  students,  from  the  drawing  of 
the  plans  to  the  putting  in  of  the  electric  fixtures, 
without  going  off  the  grounds  for  a  single  work- 
man. 

Not  a  few  times,  when  a  new  student  has  been 
led  into  the  temptation  of  marring  the  looks  of 
some  building  by  leadpencil  marks  or  by  the  cuts 
of  a  jack-knife,  I  have  heard  an  old  student  remind 
him  :  "  Don't  do  that.  That  is  our  building.  I 
helped  put  it  up." 

In  the  early  days  of  the  school  I  think  my  most 
trying  experience  was  in  the  matter  of  brickmaking. 
As  soon  as  we  got  the  farm  work  reasonably  well 
started,  we  directed  our  next  efforts  toward  the 
industry  of  making  bricks.  We  needed  these  for 
use  in  connection  with  the  erection  of  our  own 
buildings  ;  but  there  was  also  another  reason  for  es- 
tablishing this  industry.  There  was  no  brickyard 
in  the  town,  and  in  addition  to  our  own  needs  there 
was  a  demand  for  bricks  in  the  general  market. 

I  had  always  sympathized  with  the  "  Children 
of  Israel,"  in  their  task  of  "  making  bricks  without 
straw,"  but  ours  was  the  task  of  making  bricks  with 
no  money  and  no  experience. 


MAKING    BRICKS    WITHOUT   STRAW    151 

In  the  first  place,  the  work  was  hard  and  dirty, 
and  it  was  difficult  to  get  the  students  to  help. 
When  it  came  to  brickmaking,  their  distaste  for 
manual  labour  in  connection  with  book  education 
became  especially  manifest.  It  was  not  a  pleasant 
task  for  one  to  stand  in  the  mud-pit  for  hours,  with 
the  mud  up  to  his  knees.  More  than  one  man 
became  disgusted  and  left  the  school. 

We  tried  several  locations  before  we  opened  up 
a  pit  that  furnished  brick  clay.  I  had  always 
supposed  that  brickmaking  was  very  simple,  but 
I  soon  found  out  by  bitter  experience  that  it  re- 
quired special  skill  and  knowledge,  particularly  in 
the  burning  of  the  bricks.  After  a  good  deal  of 
effort  we  moulded  about  twenty-five  thousand  bricks, 
and  put  them  into  a  kiln  to  be  burned.  This  kiln 
turned  out  to  be  a  failure,  because  it  was  not  prop- 
erly constructed  or  properly  burned.  We  began 
at  once,  however,  on  a  second  kiln.  This,  for 
some  reason,  also  proved  a  failure.  The  failure 
of  this  kiln  made  it  still  more  difficult  to  get  the 
students  to  take  any  part  in  the  work.  Several 
of  the  teachers,  however,  who  had  been  trained  in 
the  industries  at  Hampton,  volunteered  their  ser- 
vices, and  in  some  way  we  succeeded  in  getting  a 
third  kiln  ready  for  burning.  The  burning  of  a 
kiln    required   about  a  week.       Toward    the    latter 


152  UP    FROM   SLAVERY 

part  of  the  week,  when  it  seemed  as  if  we  were 
going  to  have  a  good  many  thousand  bricks  in  a 
few  hours,  in  the  middle  of  the  night  the  kiln  fell. 
For  the  third  time  we  had  failed. 

The  failure  of  this  last  kiln  left  me  without  a 
single  dollar  with  which  to  make  another  experi- 
ment. Most  of  the  teachers  advised  the  abandon- 
ing of  the  effort  to  make  bricks.  In  the  midst 
of  my  troubles  I  thought  of  a  watch  which  had 
come  into  my  possession  years  before.  I  took  this 
watch  to  the  city  of  Montgomery,  which  was  not 
far  distant,  and  placed  it  in  a  pawn-shop.  I  secured 
cash  upon  it  to  the  amount  of  fifteen  dollars,  with 
which  to  renew  the  brickmaking  experiment.  I 
returned  to  Tuskegee,  and,  with  the  help  of  the 
fifteen  dollars,  rallied  our  rather  demoralized  and 
discouraged  forces  and  began  a  fourth  attempt  to 
make  bricks.  This  time,  I  am  glad  to  say,  we 
were  successful.  Before  I  got  hold  of  any  money, 
the  time-limit  on  my  watch  had  expired,  and  I  have 
never  seen  it  since ;  but  I  have  never  regretted  the 
loss  of  it. 

Brickmaking  has  now  become  such  an  important 
industry  at  the  school  that  last  season  our  students 
manufactured  twelve  hundred  thousand  of  first-class 
bricks,  of  a  quality  suitable  to  be  sold  in  any  mar- 
ket.    Aside  from  this,  scores  of  young  men  have 


MAKING    BRICKS   WITHOUT    STRAW     153 

mastered  the  brickmaking  trade  —  both  the  making 
of  bricks  by  hand  and  by  machinery  —  and  are 
now  engaged  in  this  industry  in  many  parts  of  the 
South. 

The  making  of  these  bricks  taught  me  an  im- 
portant lesson  in  regard  to  the  relations  of  the  two 
races  in  the  South.  Many  white  people  who  had 
had  no  contact  with  the  school,  and  perhaps  no 
sympathy  with  it,  came  to  us  to  buy  bricks  because 
they  found  out  that  ours  were  good  bricks.  They 
discovered  that  we  were  supplying  a  real  want  in 
"the  community.  The  making  of  these  bricks  caused 
many  of  the  white  residents  of  the  neighbourhood 
to  begin  to  feel  that  the  education  of  the  Negro  was 
not  making  him  worthless,  but  that  in  educating 
our  students  we  were  adding  something  to  the 
wealth  and  comfort  of  the  community.  As  the 
people  of  the  neighbourhood  came  to  us  to  buy 
bricks,  we  got  acquainted  with  them  ;  they  traded 
with  us  and  we  with  them.  Our  business  interests 
became  intermingled.  We  had  something  which 
they  wanted  ;  they  had  something  which  we  wanted. 
This,  in  a  large  measure,  helped  to  lay  the  founda- 
tion for  the  pleasant  relations  that  have  continued 
to  exist  between  us  and  the  white  people  in  that 
section,  and  which  now  extend  throughout  the 
South. 


154  UP    FROM    SLAVERY 

Wherever  one  of  our  brickmakers  has  gone  in 
the  South,  we  find  that  he  has  something  to  contrib- 
ute to  the  well-being  of  the  community  into  which 
he  has  gone ;  something  that  has  made  the  com- 
munity feel  that,  in  a  degree,  it  is  indebted  to  him, 
and  perhaps,  to  a  certain  extent,  dependent  upon 
him.  In  this  way  pleasant  relations  between  the 
races  have  been  stimulated. 

My  experience  is  that  there  is  something  in 
human  nature  which  always  makes  an  individual 
recognize  and  reward  merit,  no  matter  under  what 
colour  of  skin  merit  is  found.  I  have  found,  too, 
that  it  is  the  visible,  the  tangible,  that  goes  a  long 
ways  in  softening  prejudices.  The  actual  sight  of  a 
first-class  house  that  a  Negro  has  built  is  ten  times 
more  potent  than  pages  of  discussion  about  a  house 
that  he  ought  to  build,  or  perhaps  could  build. 

The  same  principle  of  industrial  education  has 
been  carried  out  in  the  building  of  our  own  wagons, 
carts,  and  buggies,  from  the  first.  We  now  own 
and  use  on  our  farm  and  about  the  school  dozens 
of  these  vehicles,  and  every  one  of  them  has  been 
built  by  the  hands  of  the  students.  Aside  from 
this,  we  help  supply  the  local  market  with  these 
vehicles.  The  supplying  of  them  to  the  people  in 
the  community  has  had  the  same  effect  as  the  sup- 
plying of  bricks,  and  the  man  who  learns  at  Tuske- 


MAKING    BRICKS    WITHOUT   STRAW    155 

gee  to  build  and  repair  wagons  and  carts  is  regarded 
as  a  benefactor  by  both  races  in  the  community 
where  he  goes.  The  people  with  whom  he  lives 
and  works  are  going  to  think  twice  before  they  part 
with  such  a  man. 

The  individual  who  can  do  something  that  the 
world  wants  done  will,  in  the  end,  make  his  way 
regardless  of  his  race.  One  man  may  go  into  a 
community  prepared  to  supply  the  people  there 
with  an  analysis  of  Greek  sentences.  The  com- 
munity may  not  at  that  time  be  prepared  for,  or 
feel  the  need  of,  Greek  analysis,  but  it  may  feel  its 
need  of  bricks  and  houses  and  wagons.  If  the  man 
can  supply  the  need  for  those,  then,  it  will  lead 
eventually  to  a  demand  for  the  first  product,  and 
with  the  demand  will  come  the  ability  to  appreciate 
it  and  to  profit  by  it. 

About  the  time  that  we  succeeded  in  burning  our 
first  kiln  of  bricks  we  began  facing  in  an  empha- 
sized form  the  objection  of  the  students  to  being 
taught  to  work.  By  this  time  it  had  gotten  to  be 
pretty  well  advertised  throughout  the  state  that 
every  student  who  came  to  Tuskegee,  no  matter 
what  his  financial  ability  might  be,  must  learn  some 
industry.  Quite  a  number  of  letters  came  from 
parents  protesting  against  their  children  engaging 
in   labour   while   they  were   in   the   school.      Other 


156  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

parents  came  to  the  school  to  protest  in  person. 
Most  of  the  new  students  brought  a  written  or  a 
verbal  request  from  their  parents  to  the  effect  that 
they  wanted  their  children  taught  nothing  but 
books.  The  more  books,  the  larger  they  were,  and 
the  longer  the  titles  printed  upon  them,  the  better 
pleased  the  students  and  their  parents  seemed  to  be. 

I  gave  little  heed  to  these  protests,  except  that  I 
lost  no  opportunity  to  go  into  as  many  parts  of  the 
state  as  I  could,  for  the  purpose  of  speaking  to  the 
parents,  and  showing  them  the  value  of  industrial 
education.  Besides,  I  talked  to  the  students  con- 
stantly on  the  subject.  Notwithstanding  the  un- 
popularity of  industrial  work,  the  school  continued 
to  increase  in  numbers  to  such  an  extent  that  by 
the  middle  of  the  second  year  there  was  an  attend- 
ance of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty,  representing 
almost  all  parts  of  the  state  of  Alabama,  and  includ- 
ing a  few  from  other  states. 

In  the  summer  of  1882  Miss  Davidson  and  I 
both  went  North  and  engaged  in  the  work  of  rais- 
ing funds  for  the  completion  of  our  new  building. 
On  my  way  North  I  stopped  in  New  York  to  try 
to  get  a  letter  of  recommendation  from  an  officer  of 
a  missionary  organization  who  had  become  some- 
what acquainted  with  me  a  few  years  previous. 
This  man  not  only  refused   to  give  me  the  letter, 


MAKING    BRICKS    WITHOUT    STRAW     157 

but  advised  me  most  earnestly  to  go  back,  home  at 
once,  and  not  make  an  attempt  to  get  money,  for 
he  was  quite  sure  that  I  would  never  get  more  than 
enough  to  pay  my  travelling  expenses.  I  thanked 
him  for  his  advice,  and  proceeded  on  my  journey. 

The  first  place  I  went  to  in  the  North,  was  North- 
ampton, Mass.,  where  I  spent  nearly  a  half-day  in 
looking  for  a  coloured  family  with  whom  I  could 
board,  never  dreaming  that  any  hotel  would  admit  me. 
I  was  greatly  surprised  when  I  found  that  I  would 
have  no  trouble  in  being  accommodated  at  a  hotel. 

We  were  successful  in  getting  money  enough  so 
that  on  Thanksgiving  Day  of  that  year  we  held  our 
first  service  in  the  chapel  of  Porter  Hall,  although 
the  building  was  not  completed. 

In  looking  about  for  some  one  to  preach  the 
Thanksgiving  sermon,  I  found  one  of  the  rarest 
men  that  it  has  ever  been  my  privilege  to  know. 
This  was  the  Rev.  Robert  C.  Bedford,  a  white  man 
from  Wisconsin,  who  was  then  pastor  of  a  little  col- 
oured Congregational  church  in  Montgomery,  Ala. 
Before  going  to  Montgomery  to  look  for  some  one 
to  preach  this  sermon  I  had  never  heard  of  Mr. 
Bedford.  He  had  never  heard  of  me.  He  gladly 
consented  to  come  to  Tuskegee  and  hold  the 
Thanksgiving  service.  It  was  the  first  service  of 
the  kind  that  the  coloured  people  there  had  ever 


158  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

observed,  and  what  a  deep  interest  they  manifested 
in  it !  The  sight  of  the  new  building  made  it  a  day 
of  Thanksgiving  for  them  never  to  be  forgotten. 

Mr.  Bedford  consented  to  become  one  of  the 
trustees  of  the  school,  and  in  that  capacity,  and  as  a 
worker  for  it,  he  has  been  connected  with  it  for 
eighteen  years.  During  this  time  he  has  borne  the 
school  upon  his  heart  night  and  day,  and  is  never 
so  happy  as  when  he  is  performing  some  service,  no 
matter  how  humble,  for  it.  He  completely  obliter- 
ates himself  in  everything,  and  looks  only  for  per- 
mission to  serve  where  service  is  most  disagreeable, 
and  where  others  would  not  be  attracted.  In  all  my 
relations  with  him  he  has  seemed  to  me  to  approach 
as  nearly  to  the  spirit  of  the  Master  as  almost  any 
man  I  ever  met. 

A  little  later  there  came  into  the  service  of  the 
school  another  man,  quite  young  at  the  time,  and 
fresh  from  Hampton,  without  whose  service  the 
school  never  could  have  become  what  it  is.  This 
was  Mr.  Warren  Logan,  who  now  for  seventeen 
years  has  been  the  treasurer  of  the  Institute,  and 
the  acting  principal  during  my  absence.  He  has 
always  shown  a  degree  of  unselfishness  and  an 
amount  of  business  tact,  coupled  with  a  clear  judg- 
ment, that  has  kept  the  school  in  good  condition  no 
matter  how  long  I  have  been  absent  from  it.     Dur- 


MAKING    BRICKS   WITHOUT   STRAW    159 

ing  all  the  financial  stress  through  which  the  school 
has  passed,  his  patience  and  faith  in  our  ultimate 
success  have  not  left  him. 

As  soon  as  our  first  building  was  near  enough  to 
completion  so  that  we  could  occupy  a  portion  of  it 
—  which  was  near  the  middle  of  the  second  year  of 
the  school  —  we  opened  a  boarding  department. 
Students  had  begun  coming  from  quite  a  distance, 
and  in  such  increasing  numbers  that  we  felt  more 
and  more  that  we  were  merely  skimming  over  the 
surface,  in  that  we  were  not  getting  hold  of  the  stu- 
dents in  their  home  life. 

We  had  nothing  but  the  students  and  their  appe- 
tites with  which  to  begin  a  boarding  department. 
No  provision  had  been  made  in  the  new  building 
for  a  kitchen  and  dining  room  ;  but  we  discovered 
that  by  digging  out  a  large  amount  of  earth  from 
under  the  building  we  could  make  a  partially 
lighted  basement  room  that  could  be  used  for  a 
kitchen  and  dining;  room.  Again  I  called  on  the 
students  to  volunteer  for  work,  this  time  to  assist  in 
digging  out  the  basement.  This  they  did,  and  in  a 
few  weeks  we  had  a  place  to  cook  and  eat  in,  although 
it  was  very  rough  and  uncomfortable.  Any  one  see- 
ing the  place  now  would  never  believe  that  it  was 
once  used  for  a  dining  room. 

The  most  serious   problem,  though,  was  to  get 


160  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

the  boarding  department  started  off  in  running 
order,  with  nothing  to  do  with  in  the  way  of  fur- 
niture, and  with  no  money  with  which  to  buy 
anything.  The  merchants  in  the  town  would  let 
us  have  what  food  we  wanted  on  credit.  In  fact, 
in  those  earlier  years  I  was  constantly  embarrassed 
because  people  seemed  to  have  more  faith  in  me 
than  I  had  in  myself.  It  was  pretty  hard  to  cook, 
however,  without  stoves,  and  awkward  to  eat  with- 
out dishes.  At  first  the  cooking  was  done  out-of- 
doors,  in  the  old-fashioned,  primitive  style,  in  pots 
and  skillets  placed  over  a  fire.  Some  of  the  carpen- 
ters' benches  that  had  been  used  in  the  construction 
of  the  building  were  utilized  for  tables.  As  for 
dishes,  there  were  too  few  to  make  it  worth  while 
to  spend  time  in  describing  them. 

No  one  connected  with  the  boarding  department 
seemed  to  have  any  idea  that  meals  must  be  served 
at  certain  fixed  and  regular  hours,  and  this  was  a 
source  of  great  worry.  Everything  was  so  out  of 
joint  and  so  inconvenient  that  I  feel  safe  in  saying 
that  for  the  first  two  weeks  something  was  wrong  at 
every  meal.  Either  the  meat  was  not  done  or  had 
been  burnt,  or  the  salt  had  been  left  out  of  the 
bread,  or  the  tea  had  been  forgotten. 

Early  one  morning  I  was  standing  near  the 
dining-room   door    listening    to   the   complaints   of 


MAKING    BRICKS   WITHOUT   STRAW     161 

the  students.  The  complaints  that  morning  were 
especially  emphatic  and  numerous,  because  the  whole 
breakfast  had  been  a  failure.  One  of  the  girls  who 
had  failed  to  get  any  breakfast  came  out  and  went 
to  the  well  to  draw  some  water  to  drink  to  take  the 
place  of  the  breakfast  which  she  had  not  been  able 
to  get.  When  she  reached  the  well,  she  found  that 
the  rope  was  broken  and  that  she  could  get  no  water. 
She  turned  from  the  well  and  said,  in  the  most  dis- 
couraged tone,  not  knowing  that  I  was  where  I 
could  hear  her,  "  We  can't  even  get  water  to  drink 
at  this  school."  I  think  no  one  remark  ever  came 
so  near  discouraging  me  as  that  one. 

At  another  time,  when  Mr.  Bedford  —  whom  I 
have  already  spoken  of  as  one  of  our  trustees,  and 
a  devoted  friend  of  the  institution  —  was  visiting 
the  school,  he  was  given  a  bedroom  immediately 
over  the  dining  room.  Early  in  the  morning  he 
was  awakened  by  a  rather  animated  discussion  be- 
tween two  boys  in  the  dining  room  below.  The 
discussion  was  over  the  question  as  to  whose  turn 
it  was  to  use  the  coffee-cup  that  morning.  One 
boy  won  the  case  by  proving  that  for  three  morn- 
ings he  had  not  had  an  opportunity  to  use  the  cup 
at  all. 

But  gradually,  by  patience  and  hard  work,  we 
brought  order  out  of  chaos,  just  as  will  be  true  of 


i6z  UP    FROM    SLAVERY 

any  problem  if  we  stick  to  it  with  patience  and 
wisdom  and  earnest  effort. 

As  I  look  back  now  over  that  part  of  our  struggle, 
I  am  glad  that  we  had  it.  I  am  glad  that  we 
endured  all  those  discomforts  and  inconveniences. 
I  am  glad  that  our  students  had  to  dig  out  the  place 
for  their  kitchen  and  dining  room.  I  am  glad  that 
our  first  boarding-place  was  in  that  dismal,  ill-lighted, 
and  damp  basement.  Had  we  started  in  a  fine, 
attractive,  convenient  room,  I  fear  we  would  have 
"lost  our  heads"  and  become  "stuck  up."  It 
means  a  great  deal,  I  think,  to  start  off  on  a  founda- 
tion which  one  has  made  for  one's  self. 

When  our  old  students  return  to  Tuskegee  now, 
as  they  often  do,  and  go  into  our  large,  beautiful, 
well-ventilated,  and  well-lighted  dining  room,  and 
see  tempting,  well-cooked  food  —  largely  grown  by 
the  students  themselves  —  and  see  tables,  neat 
tablecloths  and  napkins,  and  vases  of  flowers 
upon  the  tables,  and  hear  singing  birds,  and  note 
that  each  meal  is  served  exactly  upon  the  minute, 
with  no  disorder,  and  with  almost  no  complaint 
coming  from  the  hundreds  that  now  fill  our  dining 
room,  they,  too,  often  say  to  me  that  they  are  glad 
that  we  started  as  we  did,  and  built  ourselves  up 
year  by  year,  by  a  slow  and  natural  process  of 
growth. 


CHAPTER   XI 

MAKING    THEIR     BEDS     BEFORE     THEY    COULD     LIE    ON 

THEM 

A  LITTLE  later  in  the  history  of  the  school 
we  had  a  visit  from  General  J.  F.  B.  Mar- 
shall, the  Treasurer  of  the  Hampton  Insti- 
tute, who  had  had  faith  enough  to  lend  us  the  first 
two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  with  which  to  make 
a  payment  down  on  the  farm.  He  remained  with 
us  a  week,  and  made  a  careful  inspection  of  every- 
thing. He  seemed  well  pleased  with  our  progress, 
and  wrote  back  interesting  and  encouraging  reports 
to  Hampton.  A  little  later  Miss  Mary  F.  Mackie, 
the  teacher  who  had  given  me  the  "  sweeping  "  ex- 
amination when  I  entered  Hampton,  came  to  see  us, 
and  still  later  General  Armstrong  himself  came. 

At  the  time  of  the  visits  of  these  Hampton  friends 
the  number  of  teachers  at  Tuskegee  had  increased 
considerably,  and  the  most  of  the  new  teachers  were 
graduates  of  the  Hampton  Institute.  We  gave  our 
Hampton  friends,  especially  General  Armstrong,  a 
cordial  welcome.    They  were  all  surprised  and  pleased 

163 


1 64  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

at  the  rapid  progress  that  the  school  had  made 
within  so  short  a  time.  The  coloured  people  from 
miles  around  came  to  the  school  to  get  a  look  at 
General  Armstrong,  about  whom  they  had  heard  so 
much.  The  General  was  not  only  welcomed  by 
the  members  of  my  own  race,  but  by  the  Southern 
white  people  as  well. 

This  first  visit  which  General  Armstrong  made 
to  Tuskegee  gave  me  an  opportunity  to  get  an 
insight  into  his  character  such  as  I  had  not  before 
had.  I  refer  to  his  interest  in  the  Southern  white 
people.  Before  this  I  had  had  the  thought  that 
General  Armstrong,  having  fought  the  Southern 
white  man,  rather  cherished  a  feeling  of  bitterness 
toward  the  white  South,  and  was  interested  in  help- 
ing only  the  coloured  man  there.  But  this  visit  con- 
vinced me  that  I  did  not  know  the  greatness  and  the 
generosity  of  the  man.  I  soon  learned,  by  his  visits 
to  the  Southern  white  people,  and  from  his  conver- 
sations with  them,  that  he  was  as  anxious  about  the 
prosperity  and  the  happiness  of  the  white  race  as 
the  black.  He  cherished  no  bitterness  against  the 
South,  and  was  happy  when  an  opportunity  offered 
for  manifesting  his  sympathy.  In  all  my  acquaint- 
ance with  General  Armstrong  I  never  heard  him 
speak,  in  public  or  in  private,  a  single  bitter  word 
against   the   white  man  in   the   South.       From   his 


MAKING    THEIR    BEDS  165 

example  in  this  respect  I  learned  the  lesson  that 
great  men  cultivate  love,  and  that  only  little  men 
cherish  a  spirit  of  hatred.  I  learned  that  assistance 
given  to  the  weak  makes  the  one  who  gives  it 
strong ;  and  that  oppression  of  the  unfortunate 
makes  one  weak. 

It  is  now  long  ago  that  I  learned  this  lesson  from 
General  Armstrong,  and  resolved  that  I  would  per- 
mit no  man,  no  matter  what  his  colour  might  be,  to 
narrow  and  degrade  my  soul  by  making  me  hate 
him.  With  God's  help,  I  believe  that  I  have  com- 
pletely rid  myself  of  any  ill  feeling  toward  the 
Southern  white  man  for  any  wrong  that  he  may 
have  inflicted  upon  my  race.  I  am  made  to  feel 
just  as  happy  now  when  I  am  rendering  service  to 
Southern  white  men  as  when  the  service  is  rendered 
to  a  member  of  my  own  race.  I  pity  from  the 
bottom  of  my  heart  any  individual  who  is  so  unfor- 
tunate as  to  get  into  the  habit  of  holding  race  prej- 
udice. 

The  more  I  consider  the  subject,  the  more 
strongly  I  am  convinced  that  the  most  harmful 
effect  of  the  practice  to  which  the  people  in  certain 
sections  of  the  South  have  felt  themselves  com- 
pelled to  resort,  in  order  to  get  rid  of  the  force  of 
the  Negroes'  ballot,  is  not  wholly  in  the  wrong  done 
to  the   Negro,  but   in  the   permanent  injury  to  the 


166  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

morals  of  the  white  man.  The  wrong  to  the  Negro 
is  temporary,  but  to  the  morals  of  the  white  man 
the  injury  is  permanent.  I  have  noted  time  and 
time  again  that  when  an  individual  perjures  him- 
self in  order  to  break  the  force  of  the  black  man's 
ballot,  he  soon  learns  to  practise  dishonesty  in  other 
relations  of  life,  not  only  where  the  Negro  is  con- 
cerned, but  equally  so  where  a  white  man  is  con- 
cerned. The  white  man  who  begins  by  cheating  a 
Negro  usually  ends  by  cheating  a  white  man.  The 
white  man  who  begins  to  break  the  law  by  lynch- 
ing a  Negro  soon  yields  to  the  temptation  to  lynch 
a  white  man.  All  this,  it  seems  to  me,  makes  it  im- 
portant that  the  whole  Nation  lend  a  hand  in  trying 
to  lift  the  burden  of  ignorance  from  the  South. 

Another  thing  that  is  becoming  more  apparent 
each  year  in  the  development  of  education  in  the 
South  is  the  influence  of  General  Armstrong's  idea 
of  education  ;  and  this  not  upon  the  blacks  alone, 
but  upon  the  whites  also.  At  the  present  time 
there  is  almost  no  Southern  state  that  is  not  put- 
ting forth  efforts  in  the  direction  of  securing  indus- 
trial education  for  its  white  boys  and  girls,  and  in 
most  cases  it  is  easy  to  trace  the  history  of  these 
efforts  back  to  General  Armstrong. 

Soon  after  the  opening  of  our  humble  boarding 
department    students   began    coming  to  us  in  still 


MAKING   THEIR   BEDS  167 

larger  numbers.  For  weeks  we  not  only  had  to 
contend  with  the  difficulty  of  providing  board,  with 
no  money,  but  also  with  that  of  providing  sleeping 
accommodations.  For  this  purpose  we  rented  a 
number  of  cabins  near  the  school.  These  cabins 
were  in  a  dilapidated  condition,  and  during  the 
winter  months  the  students  who  occupied  them 
necessarily  suffered  from  the  cold.  We  charged 
the  students  eight  dollars  a  month  — all  they  were 
able  to  pay  —  for  their  board.  This  included, 
besides  board,  room,  fuel,  and  washing.  We  also 
gave  the  students  credit  on  their  board  bills  for  all 
the  work  which  they  did  for  the  school  which  was 
of  any  value  to  the  institution.  The  cost  of  tui- 
tion, which  was  fifty  dollars  a  year  for  each  student, 
we  had  to  secure  then,  as  now,  wherever  we  could. 

This  small  charge  in  cash  gave  us  no  capital 
with  which  to  start  a  boarding  department.  The 
weather  during  the  second  winter  of  our  work  was 
very  cold.  We  were  not  able  to  provide  enough 
bed-clothes  to  keep  the  students  warm.  In  fact, 
for  some  time  we  were  not  able  to  provide,  except 
in  a  few  cases,  bedsteads  and  mattresses  of  any 
kind.  During  the  coldest  nights  I  was  so  troubled 
about  the  discomfort  of  the  students  that  I  could 
not  sleep  myself.  I  recall  that  on  several  occasions 
I  went  in  the  middle  of  the   night  to   the  shanties 


1 68  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

occupied  by  the  young  men,  for  the  purpose  of 
comforting  them.  Often  I  found  some  of  them 
sitting  huddled  around  a  fire,  with  the  one  blanket 
which  we  had  been  able  to  provide  wrapped  around 
them,  trying  in  this  way  to  keep  warm.  During 
the  whole  night  some  of  them  did  not  attempt  to  lie 
down.  One  morning,  when  the  night  previous  had 
been  unusually  cold,  I  asked  those  of  the  students 
in  the  chapel  who  thought  that  they  had  been 
frostbitten  during  the  night  to  raise  their  hands. 
Three  hands  went  up.  Notwithstanding  these 
experiences,  there  was  almost  no  complaining  on 
the  part  of  the  students.  They  knew  that  we  were 
doing  the  best  that  we  could  for  them.  They 
were  happy  in  the  privilege  of  being  permitted  to 
enjoy  any  kind  of  opportunity  that  would  enable 
them  to  improve  their  condition.  They  were  con- 
stantly asking  what  they  might  do  to  lighten  the 
burdens  of  the  teachers. 

I  have  heard  it  stated  more  than  once,  both  in 
the  North  and  in  the  South,  that  coloured  people 
would  not  obey  and  respect  each  other  when  one 
member  of  the  race  is  placed  in  a  position  of 
authority  over  others.  In  regard  to  this  general 
belief  and  these  statements,  I  can  say  that  during 
the  nineteen  years  of  my  experience  at  Tuskegee  I 
never,  either   by  word   or   act,    have    been    treated 


MAKING   THEIR   BEDS  169 

with  disrespect  by  any  student  or  officer  connected 
with  the  institution.  On  the  other  hand,  I  am 
constantly  embarrassed  by  the  many  acts  of 
thoughtful  kindness.  The  students  do  not  seem  to 
want  to  see  me  carry  a  large  book  or  a  satchel  or 
any  kind  of  a  burden  through  the  grounds.  In 
such  cases  more  than  one  always  offers  to  relieve 
me.  I  almost  never  go  out  of  my  office  when  the 
rain  is  falling  that  some  student  does  not  come  to 
my  side  with  an  umbrella  and  ask  to  be  allowed  to 
hold  it  over  me. 

While  writing  upon  this  subject,  it  is  a  pleasure 
for  me  to  add  that  in  all  my  contact  with  the 
white  people  of  the  South  I  have  never  received  a 
single  personal  insult.  The  white  people  in  and 
near  Tuskegee,  to  an  especial  degree,  seem  to  count 
it  a  privilege  to  show  me  all  the  respect  within  their 
power,  and  often  go  out  of  their  way  to  do  this. 

Not  very  long  ago  I  was  making  a  journey 
between  Dallas  (Texas)  and  Houston.  In  some 
way  it  became  known  in  advance  that  I  was  on  the 
train.  At  nearly  every  station  at  which  the  train 
stopped,  numbers  of  white  people,  including  in  most 
cases  the  officials  of  the  town,  came  aboard  and 
introduced  themselves  and  thanked  me  heartily  for 
the  work  that  I  was  trying  to  do  for  the  South. 

On  another  occasion,  when  I  was  making   a  trip 


170  UP    FROM   SLAVERY 

from  Augusta,  Georgia,  to  Atlanta,  being  rather 
tired  from  much  travel,  I  rode  in  a  Pullman  sleeper. 
When  I  went  into  the  car,  I  found  there  two  ladies 
from  Boston  whom  I  knew  well.  These  good  ladies 
were  perfectly  ignorant,  it  seems,  of  the  customs  of 
the  South,  and  in  the  goodness  of  their  hearts 
insisted  that  I  take  a  seat  with  them  in  their  sec- 
tion. After  some  hesitation  I  consented.  I  had 
been  there  but  a  few  minutes  when  one  of  them, 
without  my  knowledge,  ordered  supper  to  be  served 
to  the  three  of  us.  This  embarrassed  me  still 
further.  The  car  was  full  of  Southern  white  men, 
most  of  whom  had  their  eyes  on  our  party.  When 
I  found  that  supper  had  been  ordered,  I  tried  to 
contrive  some  excuse  that  would  permit  me  to  leave 
the  section,  but  the  ladies  insisted  that  I  must  eat 
with  them.  I  finally  settled  back  in  my  seat  with  a 
sigh,  and  said  to  myself,  "  I  am  in  for  it  now, 
sure." 

To  add  further  to  the  embarrassment  of  the  situ- 
ation, soon  after  the  supper  was  placed  on  the  table 
one  of  the  ladies  remembered  that  she  had  in  her 
satchel  a  special  kind  of  tea  which  she  wished 
served,  and  as  she  said  she  felt  quite  sure  the  porter 
did  not  know  how  to  brew  it  properly,  she  insisted 
upon  getting  up  and  preparing  and  serving  it  her- 
self.    At  last  the  meal  was  over ;  and  it  seemed  the 


MAKING   THEIR    BEDS  171 

longest  one  that  I  had  ever  eaten.  When  we  were 
through,  I  decided  to  get  myself  out  of  the  embar- 
rassing situation  and  go  into  the  smoking-room, 
where  most  of  the  men  were  by  that  time,  to  see 
how  the  land  lay.  In  the  meantime,  however,  it 
had  become  known  in  some  way  throughout  the  car 
who  I  was.  When  I  went  into  the  smoking-room 
I  was  never  more  surprised  in  my  life  than  when 
each  man,  nearly  every  one  of  them  a  citizen  of 
Georgia,  came  up  and  introduced  himself  to  me  and 
thanked  me  earnestly  for  the  work  that  I  was  trying 
to  do  for  the  whole  South.  This  was  not  flattery, 
because  each  one  of  these  individuals  knew  that  he 
had  nothing  to  gain  by  trying  to  flatter  me. 

From  the  first  I  have  sought  to  impress  the  stu- 
dents with  the  idea  that  Tuskegee  is  not  my  insti- 
tution, or  that  of  the  officers,  but  that  it  is  their 
institution,  and  that  they  have  as  much  interest  in 
it  as  any  of  the  trustees  or  instructors.  I  have 
further  sought  to  have  them  feel  that  I  am  at  the 
institution  as  their  friend  and  adviser,  and  not  as 
their  overseer.  It  has  been  my  aim  to  have  them 
speak  with  directness  and  frankness  about  anything 
that  concerns  the  life  of  the  school.  Two  or  three 
times  a  year  I  ask  the  students  to  write  me  a  letter 
criticising  or  making  complaints  or  suggestions  about 
anything   connected    with    the  institution.       When 


172  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

this  is  not  done,  I  have  them  meet  me  in  the  chapel 
for  a  heart-to-heart  talk  about  the  conduct  of  the 
school.  There  are  no  meetings  with  our  students 
that  I  enjoy  more  than  these,  and  none  are  more 
helpful  to  me  in  planning  for  the  future.  These 
meetings,  it  seems  to  me,  enable  me  to  get  at  the 
very  heart  of  all  that  concerns  the  school.  Few 
things  help  an  individual  more  than  to  place  respon- 
sibility upon  him,  and  to  let  him  know  that  you 
trust  him.  When  I  have  read  of  labour  troubles 
between  employers  and  employees,  I  have  often 
thought  that  many  strikes  and  similar  disturbances 
might  be  avoided  if  the  employers  would  cultivate 
the  habit  of  getting  nearer  to  their  employees,  of 
consulting  and  advising  with  them,  and  letting  them 
feel  that  the  interests  of  the  two  are  the  same. 
Every  individual  responds  to  confidence,  and  this 
is  not  more,  true  of  any  race  than  of  the  Negroes. 
Let  them  once  understand  that  you  are  unselfishly 
interested  in  them,  and  you  can  lead  them  to  any 
extent. 

It  was  my  aim  from  the  first  at  Tuskegee  to  not 
only  have  the  buildings  erected  by  the  students 
themselves,  but  to  have  them  make  their  own  fur- 
niture as  far  as  was  possible.  I  now  marvel  at  the 
patience  of  the  students  while  sleeping  upon  the 
floor  while  waiting  for  some  kind  of  a  bedstead  to 


MAKING   THEIR   BEDS  173 

be  constructed,  or  at  their  sleeping  without  any  kind 
of  a  mattress  while  waiting  for  something  that  looked 
like  a  mattress  to  be  made. 

In  the  early  days  we  had  very  few  students  who 
had  been  used  to  handling  carpenters'  tools,  and 
the  bedsteads  made  by  the  students  then  were  very 
rough  and  very  weak.  Not  unfrequently  when  I 
went  into  the  students'  rooms  in  the  morning  I 
would  find  at  least  two  bedsteads  lying  about  on 
the  floor.  The  problem  of  providing  mattresses 
was  a  difficult  one  to  solve.  We  finally  mastered 
this,  however,  by  getting  some  cheap  cloth  and 
sewing  pieces  of  this  together  so  as  to  make  large 
bags.  These  bags  we  filled  with  the  pine  straw  — 
or,  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  pine  needles  —  which 
we  secured  from  the  forests  near  by.  I  am  glad  to 
say  that  the  industry  of  mattress-making  has  grown 
steadily  since  then,  and  has  been  improved  to  such 
an  extent  that  at  the  present  time  it  is  an  important 
branch  of  the  work  which  is  taught  systematically 
to  a  number  of  our  girls,  and  that  the  mattresses 
that  now  come  out  of  the  mattress-shop  at  Tuske- 
gee  are  about  as  good  as  those  bought  in  the  aver- 
age store.  For  some  time  after  the  opening  of  the 
boarding  department  we  had  no  chairs  in  the  stu- 
dents' bedrooms  or  in  the  dining  rooms.  Instead 
of  chairs  we  used   stools   which  the   students   con- 


174  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

structed  by  nailing  together  three  pieces  of  rough 
board.  As  a  rule,  the  furniture  in  the  students' 
rooms  during  the  early  days  of  the  school  consisted 
of  a  bed,  some  stools,  and  sometimes  a  rough  table 
made  by  the  students.  The  plan  of  having  the 
students  make  the  furniture  is  still  followed,  but  the 
number  of  pieces  in  a  room  has  been  increased,  and 
the  workmanship  has  so  improved  that  little  fault 
can  be  found  with  the  articles  now.  One  thing  that 
I  have  always  insisted  upon  at  Tuskegee  is  that 
everywhere  there  should  be  absolute  cleanliness. 
Over  and  over  again  the  students  were  reminded  in 
those  first  years — and  are  reminded  now — that 
people  would  excuse  us  for  our  poverty,  for  our  lack 
of  comforts  and  conveniences,  but  that  they  would 
not  excuse  us  for  dirt. 

Another  thing  that  has  been  insisted  upon  at  the 
school  is  the  use  of  the  tooth-brush.  "  The  gospel 
of  the  tooth-brush,"  as  General  Armstrong  used  to 
call  it,  is  a  part  of  our  creed  at  Tuskegee.  No  stu- 
dent is  permitted  to  remain  who  does  not  keep  and 
use  a  tooth-brush.  Several  times,  in  recent  years, 
students  have  come  to  us  who  brought  with  them 
almost  no  other  article  except  a  tooth-brush.  They 
had  heard  from  the  lips  of  older  students  about  our 
insisting  upon  the  use  of  this,  and  so,  to  make  a 
good    impression,    they  brought   at   least    a   tooth- 


MAKING   THEIR    BEDS  175 

brush  with  them.  I  remember  that  one  morning, 
not  long  ago,  I  went  with  the  lady  principal  on  her 
usual  morning  tour  of  inspection  of  the  girls'  rooms. 
We  found  one  room  that  contained  three  girls  who 
had  recently  arrived  at  the  school.  When  I  asked 
them  if  they  had  tooth-brushes,  one  of  the  girls 
replied,  pointing  to  a  brush  :  "  Yes,  sir.  That  is 
our  brush.  We  bought  it  together,  yesterday."  It 
did  not  take  them  long  to  learn  a  different  lesson. 

It  has  been  interesting  to  note  the  effect  that  the 
use  of  the  tooth-brush  has  had  in  bringing  about 
a  higher  degree  of  civilization  among  the  students. 
With  few  exceptions,  I  have  noticed  that,  if  we  can 
get  a  student  to  the  point  where,  when  the  first  or 
second  tooth-brush  disappears,  he  of  his  own  motion 
buys  another,  I  have  not  been  disappointed  in  the 
future  of  that  individual.  Absolute  cleanliness  of 
the  body  has  been  insisted  upon  from  the  first.  The 
students  have  been  taught  to  bathe  as  regularly  as 
to  take  their  meals.  This  lesson  we  began  teaching 
before  we  had  anything  in  the  shape  of  a  bath-house. 
Most  of  the  students  came  from  plantation  districts, 
and  often  we  had  to  teach  them  how  to  sleep  at 
night ;  that  is,  whether  between  the  two  sheets  — 
after  we  got  to  the  point  where  we  could  provide 
them  two  sheets  —  or  under  both  of  them.  Natu- 
rally  I    found    it  difficult    to    teach  them  to   sleep 


176  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

between  two  sheets  when  we  were  able  to  supply 
but  one.  The  importance  of  the  use  of  the  night- 
gown received  the  same  attention. 

For  a  long  time  one  of  the  most  difficult  tasks 
was  to  teach  the  students  that  all  the  buttons  were 
to  be  kept  on  their  clothes,  and  that  there  must  be 
no  torn  places  and  no  grease-spots.  This  lesson,  I 
am  pleased  to  be  able  to  say,  has  been  so  thoroughly 
learned  and  so  faithfully  handed  down  from  year  to 
year  by  one  set  of  students  to  another  that  often  at 
the  present  time,  when  the  students  march  out  of 
chapel  in  the  evening  and  their  dress  is  inspected, 
as  it  is  every  night,  not  one  button  is  to  be  found 
missing. 


CHAPTER   XII 


RAISING    MONEY 


WHEN  we  opened  our  boarding  depart- 
ment, we  provided  rooms  in  the  attic  of 
Porter  Hall,  our  first  building,  for  a 
number  of  girls.  But  the  number  of  students,  of 
both  sexes,  continued  to  increase.  We  could  find 
rooms  outside  the  school  grounds  for  many  of  the 
young  men,  but  the  girls  we  did  not  care  to  expose 
in  this  way.  Very  soon  the  problem  of  providing 
more  rooms  for  the  girls,  as  well  as  a  larger  board- 
ing department  for  all  the  students,  grew  serious. 
As  a  result,  we  finally  decided  to  undertake  the 
construction  of  a  still  larger  building  —  a  building 
that  would  contain  rooms  for  the  girls  and  boarding 
accommodations  for  all. 

After  having  had  a  preliminary  sketch  of  the 
needed  building  made,  we  found  that  it  would  cost 
about  ten  thousand  dollars.  We  had  no  money 
whatever  with  which  to  begin  ;  still  we  decided  to 
give  the  needed  building  a  name.  We  knew  we 
could  name  it,  even  though  we  were  in  doubt  about 

177 


178  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

our  ability  to  secure  the  means  for  its  construction. 
We  decided  to  call  the  proposed  building  Alabama 
Hall,  in  honour  of  the  state  in  which  we  were  labour- 
ing. Again  Miss  Davidson  began  making  efforts 
to  enlist  the  interest  and  help  of  the  coloured  and 
white  people  in  and  near  Tuskegee.  They  re- 
sponded willingly,  in  proportion  to  their  means. 
The  students,  as  in  the  case  of  our  first  building, 
Porter  Hall,  began  digging  out  the  dirt  in  order  to 
allow  of  the  laying  of  the  foundations. 

When  we  seemed  at  the  end  of  our  resources,  so 
far  as  securing  money  was  concerned,  something 
occurred  which  showed  the  greatness  of  General 
Armstrong  —  something  which  proved  how  far  he 
was  above  the  ordinary  individual.  When  we  were 
in  the  midst  of  great  anxiety  as  to  where  and  how 
we  were  to  get  funds  for  the  new  building,  I  received 
a  telegram  from  General  Armstrong  asking  me  if  I 
could  spend  a  month  travelling  with  him  through 
the  North,  and  asking  me,  if  I  could  do  so,  to 
come  to  Hampton  at  once.  Of  course  I  accepted 
General  Armstrong's  invitation,  and  went  to  Hamp- 
ton immediately.  On  arriving  there  I  found  that 
the  General  had  decided  to  take  a  quartette  of 
singers  through  the  North,  and  hold  meetings  for 
a  month  in  important  cities,  at  which  meetings  he 
and  I  were  to  speak.     Imagine  my  surprise  when 


RAISING   MONEY  179 

the  General  told  me,  further,  that  these  meetings 
were  to  be  held,  not  in  the  interests  of  Hampton, 
but  in  the  interests  of  Tuskegee,  and  that  the 
Hampton  Institute  was  to  be  responsible  for  all 
the  expenses. 

Although  he  never  told  me  so  in  so  many 
words,  I  found  out  that  General  Armstrong  took 
this  method  of  introducing  me  to  the  people  of  the 
North,  as  well  as  for  the  sake  of  securing  some 
immediate  funds  to  be  used  in  the  erection  of  Ala- 
bama Hall.  A  weak  and  narrow  man  would  have 
reasoned  that  all  the  money  which  came  to  Tuske- 
gee in  this  way  would  be  just  so  much  taken  from 
the  Hampton  Institute;  but  none  of  these  selfish 
or  short-sighted  feelings  ever  entered  the  breast  of 
General  Armstrong.  He  was  too  big  to  be  little, 
too  good  to  be  mean.  He  knew  that  the  people 
in  the  North  who  gave  money  gave  it  for  the  pur- 
pose of  helping  the  whole  cause  of  Negro  civiliza- 
tion, and  not  merely  for  the  advancement  of  any 
one  school.  The  General  knew,  too,  that  the  way 
to  strengthen  Hampton  was  to  make  it  a  centre  of 
unselfish  power  in  the  working  out  of  the  whole 
Southern  problem. 

In  regard  to  the  addresses  which  I  was  to  make 
in  the  North,  I  recall  just  one  piece  of  advice  which 
the  General  gave  me.      He  said:  "Give  them  an 


180  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

idea  for  every  word."  I  think  it  would  be  hard  to 
improve  upon  this  advice ;  and  it  might  be  made 
to  apply  to  all  public  speaking.  From  that  time  to 
the  present  I  have  always  tried  to  keep  his  advice 
in  mind. 

Meetings  were  held  in  New  York,  Brooklyn, 
Boston,  Philadelphia,  and  other  large  cities,  and  at 
all  of  these  meetings  General  Armstrong  pleaded, 
together  with  myself,  for  help,  not  for  Hampton, 
but  for  Tuskegee.  At  these  meetings  an  especial 
effort  was  made  to  secure  help  for  the  building  of 
Alabama  Hall,  as  well  as  to  introduce  the  school 
to  the  attention  of  the  general  public.  In  both 
these  respects  the  meetings  proved  successful. 

After  that  kindly  introduction  I  began  going 
North  alone  to  secure  funds.  During  the  last  fif- 
teen years  I  have  been  compelled  to  spend  a  large 
proportion  of  my  time  away  from  the  school,  in  an 
effort  to  secure  money  to  provide  for  the  growing 
needs  of  the  institution.  In  my  efforts  to  get  funds 
I  have  had  some  experiences  that  maybe  of  interest 
to  my  readers.  Time  and  time  again  I  have  been 
asked,  by  people  who  are  trying  to  secure  money 
for  philanthropic  purposes,  what  rule  or  rules  I  fol- 
lowed to  secure  the  interest  and  help  of  people  who 
were  able  to  contribute  money  to  worthy  objects. 
As  far  as  the  science  of  what  is  called  begging  can 


RAISING    MONEY  181 

be  reduced  to  rules,  I  would  say  that  I  have  had 
but  two  rules.  First,  always  to  do  my  whole  duty 
regarding  making  our  work  known  to  individuals 
and  organizations  ;  and,  second,  not  to  worry  about 
the  results.  This  second  rule  has  been  the  hardest 
for  me  to  live  up  to.  When  bills  are  on  the  eve  of 
falling  due,  with  not  a  dollar  in  hand  with  which  to 
meet  them,  it  is  pretty  difficult  to  learn  not  to 
worry,  although  I  think  I  am  learning  more  and 
more  each  year  that  all  worry  simply  consumes,  and 
to  no  purpose,  just  so  much  physical  and  mental 
strength  that  might  otherwise  be  given  to  effective 
work.  After  considerable  experience  in  coming 
into  contact  with  wealthy  and  noted  men,  I  have 
observed  that  those  who  have  accomplished  the 
greatest  results  are  those  who  "  keep  under  the 
body  "  ;  are  those  who  never  grow  excited  or  lose 
self-control,  but  are  always  calm,  self-possessed, 
patient,  and  polite.  I  think  that  President  Will- 
iam McKinley  is  the  best  example  of  a  man  of  this 
class  that  I  have  ever  seen. 

In  order  to  be  successful  in  any  kind  of  under- 
taking, I  think  the  main  thing  is  for  one  to  grow  to 
the  point  where  he  completely  forgets  himself;  that 
is,  to  lose  himself  in  a  great  cause.  In  proportion 
as  one  loses  himself  in  this  way,  in  the  same  degree 
does  he  get  the  highest  happiness  out  of  his  work. 


182  UP    FROM    SLAVERY 

My  experience  in  getting  money  for  Tuskegee 
has  taught  me  to  have  no  patience  with  those  peo- 
ple who  are  always  condemning  the  rich  because 
they  are  rich,  and  because  they  do  not  give  more 
to  objects  of  charity.  In  the  first  place,  those  who 
are  guilty  of  such  sweeping  criticisms  do  not  know 
how  many  people  would  be  made  poor,  and  how 
much  suffering  would  result,  if  wealthy  people  were 
to  part  all  at  once  with  any  large  proportion  of 
their  wealth  in  a  way  to  disorganize  and  cripple 
great  business  enterprises.  Then  very  few  persons 
have  any  idea  of  the  large  number  of  applications 
for  help  that  rich  people  are  constantly  being  flooded 
with.  I  know  wealthy  people  who  receive  as  many 
as  twenty  calls  a  day  for  help.  More  than  once, 
when  I  have  gone  into  the  offices  of  rich  men,  I 
have  found  half  a  dozen  persons  waiting  to  see 
them,  and  all  come  for  the  same  purpose,  that  of 
securing  money.  And  all  these  calls  in  person,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  applications  received  through 
the  mails.  Very  few  people  have  any  idea  of  the 
amount  of  money  given  away  by  persons  who 
never  permit  their  names  to  be  known.  I  have 
often  heard  persons  condemned  for  not  giving 
away  money,  who,  to  my  own  knowledge,  were 
giving  away  thousands  of  dollars  every  year  so 
quietly  that  the  world  knew  nothing  about  it. 


RAISING    MONEY  183 

As  an  example  of  this,  there  are  two  ladies  in 
New  York,  whose  names  rarely  appear  in  print,  but 
who,  in  a  quiet  way,  have  given  us  the  means  with 
which  to  erect  three  large  and  important  buildings 
during  the  last  eight  years.  Besides  the  gift  of 
these  buildings,  they  have  made  other  generous 
donations  to  the  school.  And  they  not  only  help 
Tuskegee,  but  they  are  constantly  seeking  oppor- 
tunities to  help  other  worthy  causes. 

Although  it  has  been  my  privilege  to  be  the 
medium  through  which  a  good  many  hundred 
thousand  dollars  have  been  received  for  the  work 
at  Tuskegee,  I  have  always  avoided  what  the  world 
calls  "  begging."  I  often  tell  people  that  I  have 
never  "begged"  any  money,  and  that  I  am  not  a 
"beggar."  My  experience  and  observation  have 
convinced  me  that  persistent  asking  outright  for 
money  from  the  rich  does  not,  as  a  rule,  secure 
help.  I  have  usually  proceeded  on  the  principle 
that  persons  who  possess  sense  enough  to  earn 
money  have  sense  enough  to  know  how  to  give  it 
away,  and  that  the  mere  making  known  of  the  facts 
regarding  Tuskegee,  and  especially  the  facts  regard- 
ing the  work  of  the  graduates,  has  been  more  effec- 
tive than  outright  begging.  I  think  that  the 
presentation  of  facts,  on  a  high,  dignified  plane,  is 
all  the  begging  that  most  rich  people  care  for. 


1 84  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

While  the  work  of  going  from  door  to  door  and 
from  office  to  office  is  hard,  disagreeable,  and  costly 
in  bodily  strength,  yet  it  has  some  compensations. 
Such  work  gives  one  a  rare  opportunity  to  study 
human  nature.  It  also  has  its  compensations  in 
giving  one  an  opportunity  to  meet  some  of  the 
best  people  in  the  world  —  to  be  more  correct,  I 
think  I  should  say  the  best  people  in  the  world. 
When  one  takes  a  broad  survey  of  the  country,  he 
will  find  that  the  most  useful  and  influential  people 
in  it  are  those  who  take  the  deepest  interest  in  insti- 
tutions that  exist  for  the  purpose  of  making  the 
world  better. 

At  one  time,  when  I  was  in  Boston,  I  called  at 
the  door  of  a  rather  wealthy  lady,  and  was  admitted 
to  the  vestibule  and  sent  up  my  card.  While  I 
was  waiting  for  an  answer,  her  husband  came  in, 
and  asked  me  in  the  most  abrupt  manner  what  I 
wanted.  When  I  tried  to  explain  the  object  of  my 
call,  he  became  still  more  ungentlemanly  in  his 
words  and  manner,  and  finally  grew  so  excited  that 
I  left  the  house  without  waiting  for  a  reply  from 
the  lady.  A  few  blocks  from  that  house  I  called 
to  see  a  gentleman  who  received  me  in  the  most 
cordial  manner.  He  wrote  me  his  check  for  a  gen- 
erous sum,  and  then,  before  I  had  had  an  oppor- 
tunity to  thank   him,  said :    "  I  am  so  grateful  to 


RAISING    MONEY  185 

you,  Mr.  Washington,  for  giving  me  the  opportu- 
nity to  help  a  good  cause.  It  is  a  privilege  to  have 
a  share  in  it.  We  in  Boston  are  constantly  indebted 
to  you  for  doing  our  work."  My  experience  in  se- 
curing money  convinces  me  that  the  first  type  of 
man  is  growing  more  rare  all  the  time,  and  that  the 
latter  type  is  increasing ;  that  is,  that,  more  and 
more,  rich  people  are  coming  to  regard  men  and 
women  who  apply  to  them  for  help  for  worthy  ob- 
jects, not  as  beggars,  but  as  agents  for  doing  their 
work. 

In  the  city  of  Boston  I  have  rarely  called  upon 
an  individual  for  funds  that  I  have  not  been  thanked 
for  calling,  usually  before  I  could  get  an  opportu- 
nity to  thank  the  donor  for  the  money.  In  that 
city  the  donors  seem  to  feel,  in  a  large  degree,  that 
an  honour  is  being  conferred  upon  them  in  their 
being  permitted  to  give.  Nowhere  else  have  I  met 
with,  in  so  large  a  measure,  this  fine  and  Christlike 
spirit  as  in  the  city  of  Boston,  although  there  are 
many  notable  instances  of  it  outside  that  city.  I 
repeat  my  belief  that  the  world  is  growing  in  the 
direction  of  giving.  I  repeat  that  the  main  rule  by 
which  I  have  been  guided  in  collecting  money  is 
to  do  my  full  duty  in  regard  to  giving  people  who 
have  money  an  opportunity  to  help. 

In   the   early   years    of  the    Tuskegee   school    I 


1 86  UP    FROM    SLAVERY 

walked  the  streets  or  travelled  country  roads  in  the 
North  for  days  and  days  without  receiving  a  dollar. 
Often  it  has  happened,  when  during  the  week  I  had 
been  disappointed  in  not  getting  a  cent  from  the 
very  individuals  from  whom  I  most  expected  help, 
and  when  I  was  almost  broken  down  and  discour- 
aged, that  generous  help  has  come  from  some  one 
who  I  had  had  little  idea  would  give  at  all. 

I  recall  that  on  one  occasion  I  obtained  informa- 
tion that  led  me  to  believe  that  a  gentleman  who 
lived  about  two  miles  out  in  the  country  from  Stam- 
ford, Conn.,  might  become  interested  in  our  efforts 
at  Tuskegee  if  our  conditions  and  needs  were  pre- 
sented to  him.  On  an  unusually  cold  and  stormy 
day  I  walked  the  two  miles  to  see  him.  After  some 
difficulty  I  succeeded  in  securing  an  interview  with 
him.  He  listened  with  some  degree  of  interest  to 
what  I  had  to  say,  but  did  not  give  me  anything. 
I  could  not  help  having  the  feeling  that,  in  a  meas- 
ure, the  three  hours  that  I  had  spent  in  seeing  him 
had  been  thrown  away.  Still,  I  had  followed  my 
usual  rule  of  doing  my  duty.  If  I  had  not  seen 
him,  I  should  have  felt  unhappy  over  neglect  of 
duty. 

Two  years  after  this  visit  a  letter  came  to  Tuske- 
gee from  this  man,  which  read  like  this  :  "  Enclosed 
I  send  you  a  New  York  draft  for  ten  thousand  dol- 


RAISING    MONEY  187 

lars,  to  be  used  in  furtherance  of  your  work.  I  had 
placed  this  sum  in  my  will  for  your  school,  but  deem 
it  wiser  to  give  it  to  you  while  I  live.  I  recall  with 
pleasure  your  visit  to  me  two  years  ago." 

I  can  hardly  imagine  any  occurrence  which  could 
have  given  me  more  genuine  satisfaction  than  the 
receipt  of  this  draft.  It  was  by  far  the  largest 
single  donation  which  up  to  that  time  the  school 
had  ever  received.  It  came  at  a  time  when  an 
unusually  long  period  had  passed  since  we  had 
received  any  money.  We  were  in  great  distress 
because  of  lack  of  funds,  and  the  nervous  strain 
was  tremendous.  It  is  difficult  for  me  to  think  of 
any  situation  that  is  more  trying  on  the  nerves  than 
that  of  conducting  a  large  institution,  with  heavy 
financial  obligations  to  meet,  without  knowing 
where  the  money  is  to  come  from  to  meet  these 
obligations  from   month  to  month. 

In  our  case  I  felt  a  double  responsibility,  and 
this  made  the  anxiety  all  the  more  intense.  If  the 
institution  had  been  officered  by  white  persons,  and 
had  failed,  it  would  have  injured  the  cause  of  Negro 
education  ;  but  I  knew  that  the  failure  of  our  insti- 
tution, officered  by  Negroes,  would  not  only  mean 
the  loss  of  a  school,  but  would  cause  people,  in  a 
large  degree,  to  lose  faith  in  the  ability  of  the  entire 
race.     The  receipt  of  this  draft   for   ten    thousand 


1 88  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

dollars,  under  all  these  circumstances,  partially- 
lifted  a  burden  that  had  been  pressing  down  upon 
me  for  days. 

From  the  beginning  of  our  work  to  the  present 
I  have  always  had  the  feeling,  and  lose  no  oppor- 
tunity to  impress  our  teachers  with  the  same  idea, 
that  the  school  will  always  be  supported  in  propor- 
tion as  the  inside  of  the  institution  is  kept  clean 
and  pure  and  wholesome. 

The  first  time  I  ever  saw  the  late  Collis  P.  Hunt- 
ington, the  great  railroad  man,  he  gave  me  two  dol- 
lars for  our  school.  The  last  time  I  saw  him,  which 
was  a  few  months  before  he  died,  he  gave  me  fifty 
thousand  dollars  toward  our  endowment  fund.  Be- 
tween these  two  gifts  there  were  others  of  generous 
proportions  which  came  every  year  from  both  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Huntington. 

Some  people  may  say  that  it  was  Tuskegee's 
good  luck  that  brought  to  us  this  gift  of  fifty 
thousand  dollars.  No,  it  was  not  luck.  It  was 
hard  work.  Nothing  ever  comes  to  one,  that  is 
worth  having,  except  as  a  result  of  hard  work. 
When  Mr.  Huntington  gave  me  the  first  two  dol- 
lars, I  did  not  blame  him  for  not  giving  me  more, 
but  made  up  my  mind  that  I  was  going  to  con- 
vince him  by  tangible  results  that  we  were  worthy 
of  larger  gifts.     For  a  dozen  years  I  made  a  strong 


RAISING    MONEY  189 

effort  to  convince  Mr.  Huntington  of  the  value  of 
our  work.  I  noted  that  just  in  proportion  as  the 
usefulness  of  the  school  grew,  his  donations  in- 
creased. Never  did  I  meet  an  individual  who 
took  a  more  kindly  and  sympathetic  interest  in  our 
school  than  did  Mr.  Huntington.  He  not  only 
gave  money  to  us,  but  took  time  in  which  to  advise 
me,  as  a  father  would  a  son,  about  the  general  con- 
duct of  the  school. 

More  than  once  I  have  found  myself  in  some 
pretty  tight  places  while  collecting  money  in  the 
North.  The  following  incident  I  have  never  re- 
lated but  once  before,  for  the  reason  that  I  feared 
that  people  would  not  believe  it.  One  morning  I 
found  myself  in  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  without 
a  cent  of  money  with  which  to  buy  breakfast.  In 
crossing  the  street  to  see  a  lady  from  whom  I 
hoped  to  get  some  money,  I  found  a  bright  new 
twenty-five-cent  piece  in  the  middle  of  the  street- 
car track.  I  not  only  had  this  twenty-five  cents 
for  my  breakfast,  but  within  a  few  minutes  I  had  a 
donation  from  the  lady  on  whom  I  had  started  to 
call. 

At  one  of  our  Commencements  I  was  bold 
enough  to  invite  the  Rev.  E.  Winchester  Donald, 
D.D.,  rector  of  Trinity  Church,  Boston,  to  preach 
the  Commencement  sermon.     As  we  then  had  no 


igo  UP    FROM    SLAVERY 

room  large  enough  to  accommodate  all  who  would 
be  present,  the  place  of  meeting  was  under  a  large, 
improvised  arbour,  built  partly  of  brush  and  partly 
of  rough  boards.  Soon  after  Dr.  Donald  had  begun 
speaking,  the  rain  came  down  in  torrents,  and  he  had 
to  stop,  while  some  one  held  an  umbrella  over  him. 

The  boldness  of  what  I  had  done  never  dawned 
upon  me  until  I  saw  the  picture  made  by  the  rector 
of  Trinity  Church  standing  before  that  large  audi- 
ence under  an  old  umbrella,  waiting  for  the  rain  to 
cease  so  that  he  could  go  on  with  his  address. 

It  was  not  very  long  before  the  rain  ceased  and 
Dr.  Donald  finished  his  sermon  ;  and  an  excellent 
sermon  it  was,  too,  in  spite  of  the  weather.  After 
he  had  gone  to  his  room,  and  had  gotten  the  wet 
threads  of  his  clothes  dry,  Dr.  Donald  ventured 
the  remark  that  a  large  chapel  at  Tuskegee  would 
not  be  out  of  place.  The  next  day  a  letter  came 
from  two  ladies  who  were  then  travelling  in  Italy, 
saying  that  they  had  decided  to  give  us  the  money 
for  such  a  chapel  as  we  needed. 

A  short  time  ago  we  received  twenty  thousand 
dollars  from  Mr.  Andrew  Carnegie,  to  be  used  for 
the  purpose  of  erecting  a  new  library  building. 
Our  first  library  and  reading-room  were  in  a  corner 
of  a  shanty,  and  the  whole  thing  occupied  a  space 
about  five  by  twelve  feet.     It  required  ten  years  of 


RAISING   MONEY  191 

work  before  I  was  able  to  secure  Mr.  Carnegie's 
interest  and  help.  The  first  time  I  saw  him,  ten 
years  ago,  he  seemed  to  take  but  little  interest  in 
our  school,  but  I  was  determined  to  show  him  that 
we  were  worthy  of  his  help.  After  ten  years  of 
hard  work  I  wrote  him  a  letter  reading  as  follows  : 

December    15,    1900. 
Mr.  Andrew  Carnegie,  5  W.  Fifty-first  St.,  New 
York. 

Dear  Sir  :  Complying  with  the  request  which  you 
made  of  me  when  I  saw  you  at  your  residence  a  few  days 
ago,  I  now  submit  in  writing  an  appeal  for  a  library  build- 
ing for  our  institution. 

We  have  1100  students,  86  officers  and  instructors,  to- 
gether with  their  families,  and  about  200  coloured  people 
living  near  the  school,  all  of  whom  would  make  use  of  the 
library  building. 

We  have  over  12,000  books,  periodicals,  etc.,  gifts  from 
our  friends,  but  we  have  no  suitable  place  for  them,  and 
we  have  no  suitable  reading-room. 

Our  graduates  go  to  work  in  every  section  of  the  South, 
and  whatever  knowledge  might  be  obtained  in  the  library 
would  serve  to  assist  in  the  elevation  of  the  whole  Negro 
race. 

Such  a  building  as  we  need  could  be  erected  for  about 
$20,000.  All  of  the  work  for  the  building,  such  as 
brickmaking,  brick-masonry,  carpentry,  blacksmithing,  etc., 
would  be  done  by  the  students.  The  money  which  you 
would  give   would   not    only  supply  the   building,  but  the 


192  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

erection  of  the  building  would  give  a  large  number  of  stu- 
dents an  opportunity  to  learn  the  building  trades,  and  the 
students  would  use  the  money  paid  to  them  to  keep  them- 
selves in  school.  I  do  not  believe  that  a  similar  amount 
of  money  often  could  be  made  go  so  far  in  uplifting  a 
whole  race. 

If  you  wish  further  information,  I  shall  be  glad  to  fur- 
nish it. 

Yours  truly, 

Booker  T.  Washington,  Principal. 

The  next  mail  brought  back  the  following  reply : 
"  I  will  be  very  glad  to  pay  the  bills  for  the  library 
building  as  they  are  incurred,  to  the  extent  of  twenty 
thousand  dollars,  and  I  am  glad  of  this  opportunity 
to  show  the  interest  I  have  in  your  noble  work." 

I  have  found  that  strict  business  methods  go  a 
long  way  in  securing  the  interest  of  rich  people.  It 
has  been  my  constant  aim  at  Tuskegee  to  carry  out, 
in  our  financial  and  other  operations,  such  business 
methods  as  would  be  approved  of  by  any  New  York 
banking  house. 

I  have  spoken  of  several  large  gifts  to  the  school ; 
but  by  far  the  greater  proportion  of  the  money  that 
has  built  up  the  institution  has  come  in  the  form  of 
small  donations  from  persons  of  moderate  means. 
It  is  upon  these  small  gifts,  which  carry  with  them 
the  interest  of  hundreds  of  donors,  that  any  philan- 
thropic work  must  depend  largely  for  its  support. 


RAISING    MONEY  193 

In  my  efforts  to  get  money  I  have  often  been  sur- 
prised at  the  patience  and  deep  interest  of  the  min- 
isters, who  are  besieged  on  every  hand  and  at  all 
hours  of  the  day  for  help.  If  no  other  considera- 
tion had  convinced  me  of  the  value  of  the  Christian 
life,  the  Christlike  work  which  the  Church  of  all 
denominations  in  America  has  done  during  the  last 
thirty-five  years  for  the  elevation  of  the  black  man 
would  have  made  me  a  Christian.  In  a  large  degree 
it  has  been  the  pennies,  the  nickels,  and  the  dimes 
which  have  come  from  the  Sunday-schools,  the 
Christian  Endeavour  societies,  and  the  missionary 
societies,  as  well  as  from  the  church  proper,  that 
have  helped  to  elevate  the  Negro  at  so  rapid  a  rate. 

This  speaking  of  small  gifts  reminds  me  to  say 
that  very  few  Tuskegee  graduates  fail  to  send  us 
an  annual  contribution.  These  contributions  range 
from  twenty-five  cents  up  to  ten  dollars. 

Soon  after  beginning  our  third  year's  work  we 
were  surprised  to  receive  money  from  three  special 
sources,  and  up  to  the  present  time  we  have  con- 
tinued to  receive  help  from  them.  First,  the  State 
Legislature  of  Alabama  increased  its  annual  appro- 
priation from  two  thousand  dollars  to  three  thousand 
dollars  ;  I  might  add  that  still  later  it  increased  this 
sum  to  four  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  a  year. 
The  effort  to  secure  this   increase  was  led  by  the 


194  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

Hon.  M.  F.  Foster,  the  member  of  the  Legislature 
from  Tuskegee.  Second,  we  received  one  thousand 
dollars  from  the  John  F.  Slater  Fund.  Our  work 
seemed  to  please  the  trustees  of  this  fund,  as  they 
soon  began  increasing  their  annual  grant.  This  has 
been  added  to  from  time  to  time  until  at  present  we 
receive  eleven  thousand  dollars  annually  from  this 
Fund.  The  other  help  to  which  I  have  referred 
came  in  the  shape  of  an  allowance  from  the  Peabody 
Fund.  This  was  at  first  five  hundred  dollars,  but  it 
has  since  been  increased  to  fifteen  hundred  dollars. 

The  effort  to  secure  help  from  the  Slater  and 
Peabody  Funds  brought  me  into  contact  with  two 
rare  men  —  men  who  have  had  much  to  do  in  shap- 
ing the  policy  for  the  education  of  the  Negro.  I 
refer  to  the  Hon.  J.  L.  M.  Curry,  of  Washington, 
who  is  the  general  agent  for  these  two  funds,  and 
Mr.  Morris  K.  Jesup,  of  New  York.  Dr.  Curry 
is  a  native  of  the  South,  an  ex-Confederate  soldier, 
yet  I  do  not  believe  there  is  any  man  in  the  coun- 
try who  is  more  deeply  interested  in  the  highest 
welfare  of  the  Negro  than  Dr.  Curry,  or  one  who 
is  more  free  from  race  prejudice.  He  enjoys  the 
unique  distinction  of  possessing  to  an  equal  degree 
the  confidence  of  the  black  man  and  the  Southern 
white  man.  1  shall  never  forget  the  first  time  I 
met  him.     It  was  in  Richmond,  Va.,  where  he  was 


RAISING   MONEY  195 

then  living.  I  had  heard  much  about  him.  When 
I  first  went  into  his  presence,  trembling  because  of 
my  youth  and  inexperience,  he  took  me  by  the 
hand  so  cordially,  and  spoke  such  encouraging 
words,  and  gave  me  such  helpful  advice  regarding 
the  proper  course  to  pursue,  that  I  came  to  know 
him  then,  as  I  have  known  him  ever  since,  as  a 
high  example  of  one  who  is  constantly  and  unself- 
ishly at  work  for  the  betterment  of  humanity. 

Mr.  Morris  K.  Jesup,  the  treasurer  of  the  Slater 
Fund,  I  refer  to  because  I  know  of  no  man  of  wealth 
and  large  and  complicated  business  responsibilities 
who  gives  not  only  money  but  his  time  and  thought 
to  the  subject  of  the  proper  method  of  elevating  the 
Negro  to  the  extent  that  is  true  of  Mr.  Jesup.  It 
is  very  largely  through  his  effort  and  influence  that 
during  the  last  few  years  the  subject  of  industrial 
education  has  assumed  the  importance  that  it  has, 
and  been  placed  on  its  present  footing. 


CHAPTER    XIII 

TWO    THOUSAND    MILES    FOR    A    FIVE-MINUTE    SPEECH 

SOON  after  the  opening  of  our  boarding 
department,  quite  a  number  of  students  who 
evidently  were  worthy,  but  who  were  so  poor 
that  they  did  not  have  any  money  to  pay  even  the 
small  charges  at  the  school,  began  applying  for 
admission.  This  class  was  composed  of  both  men 
and  women.  It  was  a  great  trial  to  refuse  admis- 
sion to  these  applicants,  and  in  1884  we  established 
a  night-school  to  accommodate  a  few  of  them. 

The  night-school  was  organized  on  a  plan  simi- 
lar to  the  one  which  I  had  helped  to  establish  at 
Hampton.  At  first  it  was  composed  of  about  a 
dozen  students.  They  were  admitted  to  the  night- 
school  only  when  they  had  no  money  with  which 
to  pay  any  part  of  their  board  in  the  regular  day- 
school.  It  was  further  required  that  they  must 
work  for  ten  hours  during  the  day  at  some  trade 
or  industry,  and  study  academic  branches  for  two 
hours  during  the  evening.  This  was  the  require- 
ment for  the  first  one  or  two  years  of  their  stay. 

196 


A    FIVE-MINUTE    SPEECH  197 

They  were  to  be  paid  something  above  the  cost  of 
their  board,  with  the  understanding  that  all  of  their 
earnings,  except  a  very  small  part,  were  to  be  re- 
served in  the  school's  treasury,  to  be  used  for  pay- 
ing their  board  in  the  regular  day-school  after  they 
had  entered  that  department.  The  night-school, 
started  in  this  manner,  has  grown  until  there  are 
at  present  four  hundred  and  fifty-seven  students 
enrolled  in  it  alone. 

There  could  hardly  be  a  more  severe  test  of  a 
student's  worth  than  this  branch  of  the  Institute's 
work.  It  is  largely  because  it  furnishes  such  a 
good  opportunity  to  test  the  backbone  of  a  student 
that  I  place  such  high  value  upon  our  night- 
school.  Any  one  who  is  willing  to  work  ten  hours 
a  day  at  the  brick-yard,  or  in  the  laundry,  through 
one  or  two  years,  in  order  that  he  or  she  may  have 
the  privilege  of  studying  academic  branches  for  two 
hours  in  the  evening,  has  enough  bottom  to  war- 
rant being  further  educated. 

After  the  student  has  left  the  night-school  he 
enters  the  day-school,  where  he  takes  academic 
branches  four  days  in  a  week,  and  works  at  his 
trade  two  days.  Besides  this  he  usually  works  at 
his  trade  during  the  three  summer  months.  As  a 
rule,  after  a  student  has  succeeded  in  going  through 
the  night-school  test,  he  finds  a  way  to  finish  the 


198  UP    FROM    SLAVERY 

regular  course  in  industrial  and  academic  training. 
No  student,  no  matter  how  much  money  he  may- 
be able  to  command,  is  permitted  to  go  through 
school  without  doing  manual  labour.  In  fact,  the 
industrial  work  is  now  as  popular  as  the  academic 
branches.  Some  of  the  most  successful  men  and 
women  who  have  graduated  from  the  institution 
obtained  their  start  in  the  night-school. 

While  a  great  deal  of  stress  is  laid  upon  the 
industrial  side  of  the  work  at  Tuskegee,  we  do 
not  neglect  or  overlook  in  any  degree  the  religious 
and  spiritual  side.  The  school  is  strictly  unde- 
nominational, but  it  is  thoroughly  Christian,  and 
the  spiritual  training  of  the  students  is  not  neg- 
lected. Our  preaching  service,  prayer-meetings, 
Sunday-school,  Christian  Endeavour  Society,  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association,  and  various  mission- 
ary organizations,  testify  to  this. 

In  1885,  Miss  Olivia  Davidson,  to  whom  I  have 
already  referred  as  being  largely  responsible  for  the 
success  of  the  school  during  its  early  history,  and  I 
were  married.  During  our  married  life  she  con- 
tinued to  divide  her  time  and  strength  between  our 
home  and  the  work  for  the  school.  She  not  only 
continued  to  work  in  the  school  at  Tuskegee,  but 
also  kept  up  her  habit  of  going  North  to  secure 
funds.      In  1889  she  died,  after  four  years  of  happy 


A   FIVE-MINUTE    SPEECH  199 

married  life  and  eight  years  of  hard  and  happy  work 
for  the  school.  She  literally  wore  herself  out  in 
her  never  ceasing  efforts  in  behalf  of  the  work  that 
she  so  dearly  loved.  During  our  married  life  there 
were  born  to  us  two  bright,  beautiful  boys,  Baker 
Taliaferro  and  Ernest  Davidson.  The  older  of 
these,  Baker,  has  already  mastered  the  brick- 
maker's  trade  at  Tuskegee. 

I  have  often  been  asked  how  I  began  the  prac- 
tice of  public  speaking.  In  answer  I  would  say 
that  I  never  planned  to  give  any  large  part  of  my 
life  to  speaking  in  public.  I  have  always  had  more 
of  an  ambition  to  do  things  than  merely  to  talk 
about  doing  them.  It  seems  that  when  I  went 
North  with  General  Armstrong  to  speak  at  the 
series  of  public  meetings  to  which  I  have  referred, 
the  President  of  the  National  Educational  Asso- 
ciation, the  Hon.  Thomas  W.  Bicknell,  was  pres- 
ent at  one  of  those  meetings  and  heard  me  speak. 
A  few  days  afterward  he  sent  me  an  invitation  to 
deliver  an  address  at  the  next  meeting  of  the 
Educational  Association.  This  meeting  was  to  be 
held  in  Madison,  Wis.  I  accepted  the  invitation. 
This  was,  in  a  sense,  the  beginning  of  my  public- 
speaking  career. 

On  the  evening  that  I  spoke  before  the  Associa- 
tion there  must  have  been  not  far  from  four  thou- 


200  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

sand  persons  present.  Without  my  knowing  it, 
there  were  a  large  number  of  people  present  from 
Alabama,  and  some  from  the  town  of  Tuskegee. 
These  white  people  afterward  frankly  told  me  that 
they  went  to  this  meeting  expecting  to  hear  the 
South  roundly  abused,  but  were  pleasantly  surprised 
to  find  that  there  was  no  word  of  abuse  in  my  address. 
On  the  contrary,  the  South  was  given  credit  for  all 
the  praiseworthy  things  that  it  had  done.  A  white 
lady  who  was  teacher  in  a  college  in  Tuskegee  wrote 
back  to  the  local  paper  that  she  was  gratified,  as 
well  as  surprised,  to  note  the  credit  which  I  gave 
the  white  people  of  Tuskegee  for  their  help  in  get- 
ting the  school  started.  This  address  at  Madison 
was  the  first  that  I  had  delivered  that  in  any  large 
measure  dealt  with  the  general  problem  of  the 
races.  Those  who  heard  it  seemed  to  be  pleased 
with  what  I  said  and  with  the  general  position  that 
I  took. 

When  I  first  came  to  Tuskegee,  I  determined 
that  I  would  make  it  my  home,  that  I  would  take 
as  much  pride  in  the  right  actions  of  the  people  of 
the  town  as  any  white  man  could  do,  and  that  I 
would,  at  the  same  time,  deplore  the  wrong-doing 
of  the  people  as  much  as  any  white  man.  I  deter- 
mined never  to  say  anything  in  a  public  address  in 
the  North  that  I  would  not  be  willing  to  say  in  the 


A    FIVE-MINUTE   SPEECH  201 

South.  I  early  learned  that  it  is  a  hard  matter  to 
convert  an  individual  by  abusing  him,  and  that  this 
is  more  often  accomplished  by  giving  credit  for  all 
the  praiseworthy  actions  performed  than  by  calling 
attention  alone  to  all  the  evil  done. 

While  pursuing  this  policy  I  have  not  failed,  at 
the  proper  time  and  in  the  proper  manner,  to  call 
attention,  in  no  uncertain  terms,  to  the  wrongs 
which  any  part  of  the  South  has  been  guilty  of.  I 
have  found  that  there  is  a  large  element  in  the 
South  that  is  quick  to  respond  to  straightforward, 
honest  criticism  of  any  wrong  policy.  As  a  rule, 
the  place  to  criticise  the  South,  when  criticism  is 
necessary,  is  in  the  South  —  not  in  Boston.  A 
Boston  man  who  came  to  Alabama  to  criticise 
Boston  would  not  effect  so  much  good,  I  think, 
as  one  who  had  his  word  of  criticism  to  say  in 
Boston. 

In  this  address  at  Madison  I  took  the  ground 
that  the  policy  to  be  pursued  with  reference  to  the 
races  was,  by  every  honourable  means,  to  bring 
them  together  and  to  encourage  the  cultivation  of 
friendly  relations,  instead  of  doing  that  which  would 
embitter.  I  further  contended  that,  in  relation  to 
his  vote,  the  Negro  should  more  and  more  consider 
the  interests  of  the  community  in  which  he  lived, 
rather    than    seek    alone   to   please   some   one  who 


202  UP    FROM    SLAVERY 

lived  a  thousand  miles  away  from   him   and   fro 
his  interests. 

In  this  address  I  said  that  the  whole  future  of 
the  Negro  rested  largely  upon  the  question  as  to 
whether  or  not  he  should  make  himself,  through 
his  skill,  intelligence,  and  character,  of  such  unde- 
niable value  to  the  community  in  which  he  lived 
that  the  community  could  not  dispense  with  his 
presence.  I  said  that  any  individual  who  learned 
to  do  something  better  than  anybody  else  —  learned 
to  do  a  common  thing  in  an  uncommon  manner 
—  had  solved  his  problem,  regardless  of  the  colour 
of  his  skin,  and  that  in  proportion  as  the  Negro 
learned  to  produce  what  other  people  wanted  and 
must  have,  in  the  same  proportion  would  he  be 
respected. 

I  spoke  of  an  instance  where  one  of  our  gradu- 
ates had  produced  two  hundred  and  sixty-six 
bushels  of  sweet  potatoes  from  an  acre  of  ground, 
in  a  community  where  the  average  production  had 
been  only  forty-nine  bushels  to  the  acre.  He 
had  been  able  to  do  this  by  reason  of  his  knowl- 
edge of  the  chemistry  of  the  soil  and  by  his 
knowledge  of  improved  methods  of  agriculture. 
The  white  farmers  in  the  neighbourhood  respected 
him,  and  came  to  him  for  ideas  regarding  the  rais- 
ing of  sweet  potatoes.     These  white  farmers  hon- 


A    FIVE-MINUTE    SPEECH  203 

oured  and  respected  him  because  he,  by  his  skill 
and  knowledge,  had  added  something  to  the  wealth 
and  the  comfort  of  the  community  in  which  he 
lived.  I  explained  that  my  theory  of  education  for 
the  Negro  would  not,  for  example,  confine  him  for 
all  time  to  farm  life  —  to  the  production  of  the 
best  and  the  most  sweet  potatoes  —  but  that,  if 
he  succeeded  in  this  line  of  industry,  he  could  lay 
the  foundations  upon  which  his  children  and  grand- 
children could  grow  to  higher  and  more  important 
things  in  life. 

Such,  in  brief,  were  some  of  the  views  I  advocated 
in  this  first  address  dealing  with  the  broad  question 
of  the  relations  of  the  two  races,  and  since  that  time 
I  have  not  found  any  reason  for  changing  my  views 
on  any  important  point. 

In  my  early  life  I  used  to  cherish  a  feeling  of  ill 
will  toward  any  one  who  spoke  in  bitter  terms 
against  the  Negro,  or  who  advocated  measures  that 
tended  to  oppress  the  black  man  or  take  from  him 
opportunities  for  growth  in  the  most  complete  man- 
ner. Now,  whenever  I  hear  any  one  advocating 
measures  that  are  meant  to  curtail  the  development 
of  another,  I  pity  the  individual  who  would  do  this. 
I  know  that  the  one  who  makes  this  mistake  does 
so  because  of  his  own  lack  of  opportunity  for  the 
highest  kind  of  growth.     I  pity  him  because  I  know 


204  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

that  he  is  trying  to  stop  the  progress  of  the  world, 
and  because  I  know  that  in  time  the  development 
and  the  ceaseless  advance  of  humanity  will  make 
him  ashamed  of  his  weak  and  narrow  position. 
One  might  as  well  try  to  stop  the  progress  of  a 
mighty  railroad  train  by  throwing  his  body  across 
the  track,  as  to  try  to  stop  the  growth  of  the  world 
in  the  direction  of  giving  mankind  more  intelli- 
gence, more  culture,  more  skill,  more  liberty,  and  in 
the  direction  of  extending  more  sympathy  and  more 
brotherly  kindness. 

The  address  which  I  delivered  at  Madison,  before 
the  National  Educational  Association,  gave  me  a 
rather  wide  introduction  in  the  North,  and  soon 
after  that  opportunities  began  offering  themselves 
for  me  to  address  audiences  there. 

I  was  anxious,  however,  that  the  way  might  also 
be  opened  for  me  to  speak  directly  to  a  representa- 
tive Southern  white  audience.  A  partial  opportu- 
nity of  this  kind,  one  that  seemed  to  me  might 
serve  as  an  entering  wedge,  presented  itself  in 
1893,  when  the  international  meeting  of  Christian 
Workers  was  held  at  Atlanta,  Ga.  When  this  in- 
vitation came  to  me,  I  had  engagements  in  Bos- 
ton that  seemed  to  make  it  impossible  for  me  to 
speak  in  Atlanta.  Still,  after  looking  over  my  list 
of  dates  and  places  carefully,  I   found  that  I  could 


A    FIVE-MINUTE    SPEECH  205 

take  a  train  from  Boston  that  would  get  me  into 
Atlanta  about  thirty  minutes  before  my  address  was 
to  be  delivered,  and  that  I  could  remain  in  that  city 
about  sixty  minutes  before  taking  another  train  for 
Boston.  My  invitation  to  speak  in  Atlanta  stipu- 
lated that  I  was  to  confine  my  address  to  five  min- 
utes. The  question,  then,  was  whether  or  not  I 
could  put  enough  into  a  five-minute  address  to 
make  it  worth  while  for  me  to  make  such  a  trip. 

I  knew  that  the  audience  would  be  largely  com- 
posed of  the  most  influential  class  of  white  men  and 
women,  and  that  it  would  be  a  rare  opportunity  for 
me  to  let  them  know  what  we  were  trying  to  do  at 
Tuskegee,  as  well  as  to  speak  to  them  about  the 
relations  of  the  races.  So  I  decided  to  make  the 
trip.  I  spoke  for  five  minutes  to  an  audience  of 
two  thousand  people,  composed  mostly  of  Southern 
and  Northern  whites.  What  I  said  seemed  to  be 
received  with  favour  and  enthusiasm.  The  Atlanta 
papers  of  the  next  day  commented  in  friendly  terms 
on  my  address,  and  a  good  deal  was  said  about  it  in 
different  parts  of  the  country.  I  felt  that  I  had  in 
some  degree  accomplished  my  object  —  that  of  get- 
ting a  hearing  from  the  dominant  class  of  the  South. 

The  demands  made  upon  me  for  public  addresses 
continued  to  increase,  coming  in  about  equal  num- 
bers from  my  own  people  and  from  Northern  whites. 


206  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

I  gave  as  much  time  to  these  addresses  as  I  could 
spare  from  the  immediate  work  at  Tuskegee.  Most 
of  the  addresses  in  the  North  were  made  for  the 
direct  purpose  of  getting  funds  with  which  to 
support  the  school.  Those  delivered  before  the 
coloured  people  had  for  their  main  object  the  im- 
pressing upon  them  of  the  importance  of  industrial 
and  technical  education  in  addition  to  academic  and 
religious  training. 

I  now  come  to  that  one  of  the  incidents  in  my 
life  which  seems  to  have  excited  the  greatest  amount 
of  interest,  and  which  perhaps  went  further  than 
anything  else  in  giving  me  a  reputation  that  in  a 
sense  might  be  called  National.  I  refer  to  the 
address  which  I  delivered  at  the  opening  of  the 
Atlanta  Cotton  states  and  International  Exposition, 
at  Atlanta,  Ga.,  September  18,  1895. 

So  much  has  been  said  and  written  about  this 
incident,  and  so  many  questions  have  been  asked 
me  concerning  the  address,  that  perhaps  I  may  be 
excused  for  taking  up  the  matter  with  some  detail. 
The  five-minute  address  in  Atlanta,  which  I  came 
from  Boston  to  deliver,  was  possibly  the  prime 
cause  for  an  opportunity  being  given  me  to  make 
the  second  address  there.  In  the  spring  of  1895  I 
received  a  telegram  from  prominent  citizens  in 
Atlanta  asking  me  to  accompany  a  committee  from 


A   FIVE-MINUTE   SPEECH  207 

that  city  to  Washington  for  the  purpose  of  appear- 
ing before  a  committee  of  Congress  in  the  interest 
of  securing  Government  help  for  the  Exposition. 
The  committee  was  composed  of  about  twenty-five 
of  the  most  prominent  and  most  influential  white 
men  of  Georgia.  All  the  members  of  this  com- 
mittee were  white  men  except  Bishop  Grant,  Bishop 
Gaines,  and  myself.  The  Mayor  and  several  other 
city  and  state  officials  spoke  before  the  committee. 
They  were  followed  by  the  two  coloured  bishops. 
My  name  was  the  last  on  the  list  of  speakers.  I 
had  never  before  appeared  before  such  a  committee, 
nor  had  I  ever  delivered  any  address  in  the  capital 
of  the  Nation.  I  had  many  misgivings  as  to  what 
I  ought  to  say,  and  as  to  the  impression  that  my 
address  would  make.  While  I  cannot  recall  in 
detail  what  I  said,  I  remember  that  I  tried  to  im- 
press upon  the  committee,  with  all  the  earnestness 
and  plainness  of  any  language  that  I  could  com- 
mand, that  if  Congress  wanted  to  do  something 
which  would  assist  in  ridding  the  South  of  the  race 
question  and  making  friends  between  the  two  races, 
it  should,  in  every  proper  way,  encourage  the  mate- 
rial and  intellectual  growth  of  both  races.  I  said 
that  the  Atlanta  Exposition  would  present  an  oppor- 
tunity for  both  races  to  show  what  advance  they 
had  made  since   freedom,  and  would   at   the   same 


208  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

time  afford  encouragement  to  them  to  make  still 
greater  progress. 

I  tried  to  emphasize  the  fact  that  while  the  Negro 
should  not  be  deprived  by  unfair  means  of  the  fran- 
chise, political  agitation  alone  would  not  save  him, 
and  that  back  of  the  ballot  he  must  have  property, 
industry,  skill,  economy,  intelligence,  and  character, 
and  that  no  race  without  these  elements  could  per- 
manently succeed.  I  said  that  in  granting  the 
appropriation  Congress  could  do  something  that 
would  prove  to  be  of  real  and  lasting  value  to  both 
races,  and  that  it  was  the  first  great  opportunity  of 
the  kind  that  had  been  presented  since  the  close  of 
the  Civil  War. 

I  spoke  for  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes,  and  was 
surprised  at  the  close  of  my  address  to  receive  the 
hearty  congratulations  of  the  Georgia  committee 
and  of  the  members  of  Congress  who  were  present. 
The  Committee  was  unanimous  in  making  a  fa- 
vourable report,  and  in  a  few  days  the  bill  passed 
Congress.  With  the  passing  of  this  bill  the  success 
of  the  Atlanta  Exposition  was  assured. 

Soon  after  this  trip  to  Washington  the  directors 
of  the  Exposition  decided  that  it  would  be  a  fitting 
recognition  of  the  coloured  race  to  erect  a  large  and 
attractive  building  which  should  be  devoted  wholly 
to  showing  the  progress  of  the  Negro  since  freedom. 


A   FIVE-MINUTE   SPEECH  209 

It  was  further  decided  to  have  the  building  designed 
and  erected  wholly  by  Negro  mechanics.  This  plan 
was  carried  out.  In  design,  beauty,  and  general  fin- 
ish the  Negro  Building  was  equal  to  the  others  on 
the  grounds. 

After  it  was  decided  to  have  a  separate  Negro 
exhibit,  the  question  arose  as  to  who  should  take 
charge  of  it.  The  officials  of  the  Exposition  were 
anxious  that  I  should  assume  this  responsibility, 
but  I  declined  to  do  so,  on  the  plea  that  the  work 
at  Tuskegee  at  that  time  demanded  my  time  and 
strength.  Largely  at  my  suggestion,  Mr.  I.  Gar- 
land Penn,  of  Lynchburg,  Va.,  was  selected  to  be 
at  the  head  of  the  Negro  department.  I  gave  him 
all  the  aid  that  I  could.  The  Negro  exhibit,  as  a 
whole,  was  large  and  creditable.  The  two  exhibits 
in  this  department  which  attracted  the  greatest 
amount  of  attention  were  those  from  the  Hampton 
Institute  and  the  Tuskegee  Institute.  The  people 
who  seemed  to  be  the  most  surprised,  as  well  as 
pleased,  at  what  they  saw  in  the  Negro  Building 
were  the  Southern  white  people. 

As  the  day  for  the  opening  of  the  Exposition 
drew  near,  the  Board  of  Directors  began  preparing 
the  programme  for  the  opening  exercises.  In  the 
discussion  from  day  to  day  of  the  various  features 
of  this  programme,  the  question  came  up  as  to  the 


210  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

advisability  of  putting  a  member  of  the  Negro  race 
on  for  one  of  the  opening  addresses,  since  the 
Negroes  had  been  asked  to  take  such  a  prominent 
part  in  the  Exposition.  It  was  argued,  further, 
that  such  recognition  would  mark  the  good 
feeling  prevailing  between  the  two  races.  Of 
course  there  were  those  who  were  opposed  to  any- 
such  recognition  of  the  rights  of  the  Negro,  but  the 
Board  of  Directors,  composed  of  men  who  repre- 
sented the  best  and  most  progressive  element  in  the 
South,  had  their  way,  and  voted  to  invite  a  black 
man  to  speak  on  the  opening  day.  The  next  thing 
was  to  decide  upon  the  person  who  was  thus  to 
represent  the  Negro  race.  After  the  question  had 
been  canvassed  for  several  days,  the  directors  voted 
unanimously  to  ask  me  to  deliver  one  of  the  open- 
ing-day addresses,  and  in  a  few  days  after  that  I 
received  the  official  invitation. 

The  receiving  of  this  invitation  brought  to  me  a 
sense  of  responsibility  that  it  would  be  hard  for  any 
one  not  placed  in  my  position  to  appreciate.  What 
were  my  feelings  when  this  invitation  came  to  me  ? 
I  remembered  that  I  had  been  a  slave ;  that  my 
early  years  had  been  spent  in  the  lowest  depths  of 
poverty  and  ignorance,  and  that  I  had  had  little 
opportunity  to  prepare  me  for  such  a  responsi- 
bility as  this.      It  was  only  a  few  years  before  that 


A   FIVE-MINUTE   SPEECH  21  r 

time  that  any  white  man  in  the  audience  might 
have  claimed  me  as  his  slave ;  and  it  was  easily 
possible  that  some  of  my  former  owners  might  be 
present  to  hear  me  speak. 

I  knew,  too,  that  this  was  the  first  time  in  the 
entire  history  of  the  Negro  that  a  member  of  my 
race  had  been  asked  to  speak  from  the  same  plat- 
form with  white  Southern  men  and  women  on  any 
important  National  occasion.  I  was  asked  now  to 
speak  to  an  audience  composed  of  the  wealth  and 
culture  of  the  white  South,  the  representatives  of 
my  former  masters.  I  knew,  too,  that  while  the 
greater  part  of  my  audience  would  be  composed  of 
Southern  people,  yet  there  would  be  present  a  large 
number  of  Northern  whites,  as  well  as  a  great  many 
men  and  women  of  my  own  race. 

I  was  determined  to  say  nothing  that  I  did  not 
feel  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart  to  be  true  and 
right.  When  the  invitation  came  to  me,  there  was 
not  one  word  of  intimation  as  to  what  I  should  say 
or  as  to  what  I  should  omit.  In  this  I  felt  that  the 
Board  of  Directors  had  paid  a  tribute  to  me.  They 
knew  that  by  one  sentence  I  could  have  blasted,  in 
a  large  degree,  the  success  of  the  Exposition.  I 
was  also  painfully  conscious  of  the  fact  that,  while 
I  must  be  true  to  my  own  race  in  my  utterances,  I 
had  it  in  my  power  to  make  such  an  ill-timed  ad- 


212  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

dress  as  would  result  in  preventing  any  similar 
invitation  being  extended  to  a  black  man  again  for 
years  to  come.  I  was  equally  determined  to  be 
true  to  the  North,  as  well  as  to  the  best  element  of 
the  white  South,  in  what  I  had  to  say. 

The  papers,  North  and  South,  had  taken  up  the 
discussion  of  my  coming  speech,  and  as  the  time 
for  it  drew  near  this  discussion  became  more  and 
more  widespread.  Not  a  few  of  the  Southern  white 
papers  were  unfriendly  to  the  idea  of  my  speaking. 
From  my  own  race  I  received  many  suggestions  as 
to  what  I  ought  to  say.  I  prepared  myself  as  best 
I  could  for  the  address,  but  as  the  eighteenth  of 
September  drew  nearer,  the  heavier  my  heart  be- 
came, and  the  more  I  feared  that  my  effort  would 
prove  a  failure  and  a  disappointment. 

The  invitation  had  come  at  a  time  when  I  was 
very  busy  with  my  school  work,  as  it  was  the  be- 
ginning of  our  school  year.  After  preparing  my 
address,  I  went  through  it,  as  I  usually  do  with  all 
those  utterances  which  I  consider  particularly  im- 
portant, with  Mrs.  Washington,  and  she  approved 
of  what  I  intended  to  say.  On  the  sixteenth  of 
September,  the  day  before  I  was  to  start  for  Atlanta, 
so  many  of  the  Tuskegee  teachers  expressed  a  de- 
sire to  hear  my  address  that  I  consented  to  read  it 
to  them  in  a  body.     When  I  had  done  so,  and  had 


A    FIVE-MINUTE    SPEECH  213 

heard  their  criticisms  and  comments,  I  felt  some- 
what relieved,  since  they  seemed  to  think  well  of 
what  I  had  to  say. 

On  the  morning  of  September  17,  together  with 
Mrs.  Washington  and  my  three  children,  I  started 
for  Atlanta.  I  felt  a  good  deal  as  I  suppose  a  man 
feels  when  he  is  on  his  way  to  the  gallows.  In 
passing  through  the  town  of  Tuskegee  I  met  a 
white  farmer  who  lived  some  distance  out  in  the 
country.  In  a  jesting  manner  this  man  said: 
"  Washington,  you  have  spoken  before  the  North- 
ern white  people,  the  Negroes  in  the  South,  and 
to  us  country  white  people  in  the  South  ;  but  in 
Atlanta,  to-morrow,  you  will  have  before'  you  the 
Northern  whites,  the  Southern  whites,  and  the  Ne- 
groes all  together.  I  am  afraid  that  you  have  got 
yourself  into  a  tight  place."  This  farmer  diagnosed 
the  situation  correctly,  but  his  frank  words  did  not 
add  anything  to  my  comfort. 

In  the  course  of  the  journey  from  Tuskegee  to 
Atlanta  both  coloured  and  white  people  came  to 
the  train  to  point  me  out,  and  discussed  with  per- 
fect freedom,  in  my  hearing,  what  was  going  to 
take  place  the  next  day.  We  were  met  by  a  com- 
mittee in  Atlanta.  Almost  the  first  thing  that  I 
heard  when  I  got  off  the  train  in  that  city  was  an 
expression  something  like  this,  from  an  old  coloured 


2i4  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

man  near  by :  "  Dat's  de  man  of  my  race  what's 
gwine  to  make  a  speech  at  de  Exposition  to-mor- 
row.    I'se  sho'  gwine  to  hear  him." 

Atlanta  was  literally  packed,  at  the  time,  with 
people  from  all  parts  of  this  country,  and  with 
representatives  of  foreign  governments,  as  well  as 
with  military  and  civic  organizations.  The  after- 
noon papers  had  forecasts  of  the  next  day's  pro- 
ceedings in  flaring  headlines.  All  this  tended  to 
add  to  my  burden.  I  did  not  sleep  much  that 
night.  The  next  morning,  before  day,  I  went  care- 
fully over  what  I  intended  to  say.  I  also  kneeled 
down  and  asked  God's  blessing  upon  my  effort. 
Right  here,  perhaps,  I  ought  to  add  that  I  make  it 
a  rule  never  to  go  before  an  audience,  on  any  occa- 
sion, without  asking  the  blessing  of  God  upon  what 
I  want  to  say. 

I  always  make  it  a  rule  to  make  especial  prepara- 
tion for  each  separate  address.  No  two  audiences 
are  exactly  alike.  It  is  my  aim  to  reach  and  talk  to 
the  heart  of  each  individual  audience,  taking  it  into 
my  confidence  very  much  as  I  would  a  person. 
When  I  am  speaking  to  an  audience,  I  care  little 
for  how  what  I  am  saying  is  going  to  sound  in  the 
newspapers,  or  to  another  audience,  or  to  an  indi- 
vidual. At  the  time,  the  audience  before  me  ab- 
sorbs all  my  sympathy,  thought,  and  energy. 


A   FIVE-MINUTE    SPEECH  215 

Early  in  the  morning  a  committee  called  to 
escort  me  to  my  place  in  the  procession  which 
was  to  march  to  the  Exposition  grounds.  In  this 
procession  were  prominent  coloured  citizens  in  car- 
riages, as  well  as  several  Negro  military  organiza- 
tions. I  noted  that  the  Exposition  officials  seemed 
to  go  out  of  their  way  to  see  that  all  of  the  coloured 
people  in  the  procession  were  properly  placed  and 
properly  treated.  The  procession  was  about  three 
hours  in  reaching  the  Exposition  grounds,  and  dur- 
ing all  of  this  time  the  sun  was  shining  down  upon 
us  disagreeably  hot.  When  we  reached  the  grounds, 
the  heat,  together  with  my  nervous  anxiety,  made 
me  feel  as  if  I  were  about  ready  to  collapse,  and  to 
feel  that  my  address  was  not  going  to  be  a  success. 
When  I  entered  the  audience-room,  I  found  it 
packed  with  humanity  from  bottom  to  top,  and 
there  were  thousands  outside  who  could  not  get  in. 

The  room  was  very  large,  and  well  suited  to  pub- 
lic speaking.  When  I  entered  the  room,  there  were 
vigorous  cheers  from  the  coloured  portion  of  the 
audience,  and  faint  cheers  from  some  of  the  white 
people.  I  had  been  told,  while  I  had  been  in 
Atlanta,  that  while  many  white  people  were  going 
to  be  present  to  hear  me  speak,  simply  out  of 
curiosity,  and  that  others  who  would  be  present 
would    be    in   full    sympathy   with    me,   there    was 


216  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

a  still  larger  element  of  the  audience  which  would 
consist  of  those  who  were  going  to  be  present  for 
the  purpose  of  hearing  me  make  a  fool  of  myself, 
or,  at  least,  of  hearing  me  say  some  foolish  thing, 
so  that  they  could  say  to  the  officials  who  had 
invited   me  to  speak,  "  I   told   you  so ! " 

One  of  the  trustees  of  the  Tuskegee  Institute,  as 
well  as  my  personal  friend,  Mr.  William  H.  Bald- 
win, Jr.  was  at  the  time  General  Manager  of  the 
Southern  Railroad,  and  happened  to  be  in  Atlanta 
on  that  day.  He  was  so  nervous  about  the  kind 
of  reception  that  I  would  have,  and  the  effect  that 
my  speech  would  produce,  that  he  could  not  per- 
suade himself  to  go  into  the  building,  but  walked 
back  and  forth  in  the  grounds  outside  until  the 
opening  exercises  were  over. 


CHAPTER   XIV 


THE    ATLANTA    EXPOSITION    ADDRESS 


1 


^HE  Atlanta  Exposition,  at  which  I  had 
been  asked  to  make  an  address  as  a  repre- 
sentative of  the  Negro  race,  as  stated  in 
the  last  chapter,  was  opened  with  a  short  address 
from  Governor  Bullock.  After  other  interesting 
exercises,  including  an  invocation  from  Bishop  Nel- 
son, of  Georgia,  a  dedicatory  ode  by  Albert  Howell, 
Jr.,  and  addresses  by  the  President  of  the  Exposi- 
tion and  Mrs.  Joseph  Thompson,  the  President  of 
the  Woman's  Board,  Governor  Bullock  introduced 
me  with  the  words,  "  We  have  with  us  to-day  a 
representative  of  Negro  enterprise  and  Negro  civili- 
zation." 

When  I  arose  to  speak,  there  was  considerable 
cheering,  especially  from  the  coloured  people.  As 
I  remember  it  now,  the  thing  that  was  uppermost 
in  my  mind  was  the  desire  to  say  something  that 
would  cement  the  friendship  of  the  races  and  bring 
about  hearty  cooperation  between  them.  So  far  as 
my  outward  surroundings  were  concerned,  the  only 

217 


vi 8  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

thing  that  I  recall  distinctly  now  is  that  when  I  got 
up,  I  saw  thousands  of  eyes  looking  intently  into 
my  face.  The  following  is  the  address  which  I 
delivered :  — 

Mr.   President   and    Gentlemen   of  the    Board 
of  Directors  and   Citizens. 

One-third  of  the  population  of  the  South  is  of 
the  Negro  race.  No  enterprise  seeking  the  mate- 
rial, civil,  or  moral  welfare  of  this  section  can  disre- 
gard this  element  of  our  population  and  reach  the 
highest  success.  I  but  convey  to  you,  Mr.  Presi- 
dent and  Directors,  the  sentiment  of  the  masses  of 
my  race  when  I  say  that  in  no  way  have  the  value 
and  manhood  of  the  American  Negro  been  more 
fittingly  and  generously  recognized  than  by  the 
managers  of  this  magnificent  Exposition  at  every 
stage  of  its  progress.  It  is  a  recognition  that  will 
do  more  to  cement  the  friendship  of  the  two  races 
than  any  occurrence  since  the  dawn  of  our  freedom. 

Not  only  this,  but  the  opportunity  here  afforded 
will  awaken  among  us  a  new  era  of  industrial  prog- 
ress. Ignorant  and  inexperienced,  it  is  not  strange 
that  in  the  first  years  of  our  new  life  we  began  at 
the  top  instead  of  at  the  bottom  ;  that  a  seat  in 
Congress  or  the  state  legislature  was  more  sought 
than  real  estate  or  industrial  skill ;  that  the  political 


THE   ATLANTA   EXPOSITION   ADDRESS    219 

convention  or  stump  speaking  had  more  attractions 
than  starting  a  dairy  farm  or  truck  garden. 

A  ship  lost  at  sea  for  many  days  suddenly  sighted 
a  friendly  vessel.  From  the  mast  of  the  unfortu- 
nate vessel  was  seen  a  signal,  "  Water,  water ;  we 
die  of  thirst !  "  The  answer  from  the  friendly  ves- 
sel at  once  came  back,  "Cast  down  your  bucket 
where  you  are."  A  second  time  the  signal,  "Water, 
water ;  send  us  water  !  "  ran  up  from  the  distressed 
vessel,  and  was  answered,  "  Cast  down  your  bucket 
where  you  are."  And  a  third  and  fourth  signal  for 
water  was  answered,  "  Cast  down  your  bucket  where 
you  are."  The  captain  of  the  distressed  vessel,  at 
last  heeding  the  injunction,  cast  down  his  bucket, 
and  it  came  up  full  of  fresh,  sparkling  water  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Amazon  River.  To  those  of  my 
race  who  depend  on  bettering  their  condition  in  a 
foreign  land  or  who  underestimate  the  importance 
of  cultivating  friendly  relations  with  the  Southern 
white  man,  who  is  their  next-door  neighbour,  I  would 
say  :  "  Cast  down  your  bucket  where  you  are  "  — 
cast  it  down  in  making  friends  in  every  manly  way 
of  the  people  of  all  races  by  whom  we  are  surrounded. 

Cast  it  down  in  agriculture,  mechanics,  in  com- 
merce, in  domestic  service,  and  in  the  professions. 
And  in  this  connection  it  is  well  to  bear  in  mind 
that  whatever  other  sins  the  South  may  be  called  to 


220  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

bear,  when  it  comes  to  business,  pure  and  simple,  it 
is  in  the  South  that  the  Negro  is  given  a  man's 
chance  in  the  commercial  world,  and  in  nothing  is 
this  Exposition  more  eloquent  than  in  emphasizing 
this  chance.  Our  greatest  danger  is  that  in  the  great 
leap  from  slavery  to  freedom  we  may  overlook  the 
fact  that  the  masses  of  us  are  to  live  by  the  produc- 
tions of  our  hands,  and  fail  to  keep  in  mind  that  we 
shall  prosper  in  proportion  as  we  learn  to  dignify 
and  glorify  common  labour  and  put  brains  and  skill 
into  the  common  occupations  of  life ;  shall  prosper 
in  proportion  as  we  learn  to  draw  the  line  between 
the  superficial  and  the  substantial,  the  ornamental 
gewgaws  of  life  and  the  useful.  No  race  can  pros- 
per till  it  learns  that  there  is  as  much  dignity  in 
tilling  a  field  as  in  writing  a  poem.  It  is  at  the  bot- 
tom of  life  we  must  begin,  and  not  at  the  top.  Nor 
should  we  permit  our  grievances  to  overshadow  our 
opportunities. 

To  those  of  the  white  race  who  look  to  the  incom- 
ing of  those  of  foreign  birth  and  strange  tongue  and 
habits  for  the  prosperity  of  the  South,  were  I  per- 
mitted I  would  repeat  what  I  say  to  my  own  race, 
"  Cast  down  your  bucket  where  you  are."  Cast  it 
down  among  the  eight  millions  of  Negroes  whose 
habits  you  know,  whose  fidelity  and  love  you  have 
tested   in   days   when   to   have   proved    treacherous 


THE   ATLANTA    EXPOSITION   ADDRESS    221 

meant  the  ruin  of  your  firesides.  Cast  down  your 
bucket  among  these  people  who  have,  without 
strikes  and  labour  wars,  tilled  your  fields,  cleared 
your  forests,  builded  your  railroads  and  cities,  and 
brought  forth  treasures  from  the  bowels  of  the  earth, 
and  helped  make  possible  this  magnificent  represen- 
tation of  the  progress  of  the  South.  Casting  down 
your  bucket  among  my  people,  helping  and  encour- 
aging them  as  you  are  doing  on  these  grounds,  and 
to  education  of  head,  hand,  and  heart,  you  will  find 
that  they  will  buy  your  surplus  land,  make  blossom 
the  waste  places  in  your  fields,  and  run  your  facto- 
ries. While  doing  this,  you  can  be  sure  in  the 
future,  as  in  the  past,  that  you  and  your  families 
will  be  surrounded  by  the  most  patient,  faithful, 
law-abiding,  and  unresentful  people  that  the  world 
has  seen.  As  we  have  proved  our  loyalty  to  you 
in  the  past,  in  nursing  your  children,  watching  by 
the  sick-bed  of  your  mothers  and  fathers,  and  often 
following  them  with  tear-dimmed  eyes  to  their  graves, 
so  in  the  future,  in  our  humble  way,  we  shall  stand 
by  you  with  a  devotion  that  no  foreigner  can  ap- 
proach, ready  to  lay  down  our  lives,  if  need  be,  in 
defence  of  yours,  interlacing  our  industrial,  commer- 
cial, civil,  and  religious  life  with  yours  in  a  way  that 
shall  make  the  interests  of  both  races  one.  In  all 
things  that  are  purely  social  we  can  be  as  separate 


222  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

as  the  fingers,  yet  one  as  the  hand  in  all  things 
essential  to  mutual  progress. 

There  is  no  defence  or  security  for  any  of  us  ex- 
cept in  the  highest  intelligence  and  development  of 
all.  If  anywhere  there  are  efforts  tending  to  curtail 
the  fullest  growth  of  the  Negro,  let  these  efforts  be 
turned  into  stimulating,  encouraging,  and  making 
him  the  most  useful  and  intelligent  citizen.  Effort 
or  means  so  invested  will  pay  a  thousand  per  cent 
interest.  These  efforts  will  be  twice  blessed  — 
"  blessing  him  that  gives  and  him  that  takes." 

There  is  no  escape  through  law  of  man  or  God 
from  the  inevitable  :  — 

The  laws  of  changeless  justice  bind 

Oppressor  with  oppressed ; 
And  close  as  sin  and  suffering  joined 

We  march  to  fate  abreast. 

Nearly  sixteen  millions  of  hands  will  aid  you  'in 
pulling  the  load  upward,  or  they  will  pull  against 
you  the  load  downward.  We  shall  constitute  one- 
third  and  more  of  the  ignorance  and  crime  of  the 
South,  or  one-third  its  intelligence  and  progress ; 
we  shall  contribute  one-third  to  the  business  and 
industrial  prosperity  of  the  South,  or  we  shall  prove 
a  veritable  body  of  death,  stagnating,  depressing, 
retarding  every  effort  to  advance  the  body  politic. 


THE    ATLANTA    EXPOSITION    ADDRESS     223 

Gentlemen  of  the  Exposition,  as  we  present  to 
you  our  humble  effort  at  an  exhibition  of  our  prog- 
ress, you  must  not  expect  overmuch.  Starting  thirty 
years  ago  with  ownership  here  and  there  in  a  few 
quilts  and  pumpkins  and  chickens  (gathered  from 
miscellaneous  sources),  remember  the  path  that  has 
led  from  these  to  the  inventions  and  production 
of  agricultural  implements,  buggies,  steam-engines, 
newspapers,  books,  statuary,  carving,  paintings,  the 
management  of  drug-stores  and  banks,  has  not  been 
trodden  without  contact  with  thorns  and  thistles. 
While  we  take  pride  in  what  we  exhibit  as  a  result 
of  our  independent  efforts,  we  do  not  for  a  moment 
forget  that  our  part  in  this  exhibition  would  fall  far 
short  of  your  expectations  but  for  the  constant  help 
that  has  come  to  our  educational  life,  not  only  from 
the  Southern  states,  but  especially  from  Northern 
philanthropists,  who  have  made  their  gifts  a  constant 
stream  of  blessing  and  encouragement. 

The  wisest  among  my  race  understand  that  the 
agitation  of  questions  of  social  equality  is  the  ex- 
tremest  folly,  and  that  progress  in  the  enjoyment 
of  all  the  privileges  that  will  come  to  us  must  be 
the  result  of  severe  and  constant  struggle  rather 
than  of  artificial  forcing.  No  race  that  has  any- 
thing to  contribute  to  the  markets  of  the  world  is 
long  in  any  degree  ostracized.      It  is  important  and 


224  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

right  that  all  privileges  of  the  law  be  ours,  but  it  is 
vastly  more  important  that  we  be  prepared  for  the 
exercises  of  these  privileges.  The  opportunity  to 
earn  a  dollar  in  a  factory  just  now  is  worth  infinitely 
more  than  the  opportunity  to  spend  a  dollar  in  an 
opera-house. 

In  conclusion,  may  I  repeat  that  nothing  in  thirty 
years  has  given  us  more  hope  and  encouragement, 
and  drawn  us  so  near  to  you  of  the  white  race,  as 
this  opportunity  offered  by  the  Exposition  ;  and 
here  bending,  as  it  were,  over  the  altar  that  repre- 
sents the  results  of  the  struggles  of  your  race  and 
mine,  both  starting  practically  empty-handed  three 
decades  ago,  I  pledge  that  in  your  effort  to  work 
out  the  great  and  intricate  problem  which  God  has 
laid  at  the  doors  of  the  South,  you  shall  have  at  all 
times  the  patient,  sympathetic  help  of  my  race; 
only  let  this  be  constantly  in  mind,  that,  while  from 
representations  in  these  buildings  of  the  product  of 
field,  of  forest,  of  mine,  of  factory,  letters,  and  art, 
much  good  will  come,  yet  far  above  and  beyond 
material  benefits  will  be  that  higher  good,  that,  let 
us  pray  God,  will  come,  in  a  blotting  out  of  sec- 
tional differences  and  racial  animosities  and  sus- 
picions, in  a  determination  to  administer  absolute 
justice,  in  a  willing  obedience  among  all  classes  to 
the  mandates  of  law.     This,  this,  coupled  with  our 


THE   ATLANTA   EXPOSITION   ADDRESS    225 

material    prosperity,   will    bring    into    our    beloved 
South  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth. 

The  first  thing  that  I  remember,  after  I  had  fin- 
ished speaking,  was  that  Governor  Bullock  rushed 
across  the  platform  and  took  me  by  the  hand,  and 
that  others  did  the  same.  I  received  so  many  and 
such  hearty  congratulations  that  I  found  it  difficult 
to  get  out  of  the  building.  I  did  not  appreciate  to 
any  degree,  however,  the  impression  which  my 
address  seemed  to  have  made,  until  the  next  morn- 
ing, when  I  went  into  the  business  part  of  the  city. 
As  soon  as  I  was  recognized,  I  was  surprised  to 
find  myself  pointed  out  and  surrounded  by  a  crowd 
of  men  who  wished  to  shake  hands  with  me.  This 
was  kept  up  on  every  street  on  to  which  I  went,  to 
an  extent  which  embarrassed  me  so  much  that  I 
went  back  to  my  boarding-place.  The  next  morn- 
ing I  returned  to  Tuskegee.  At  the  station  in 
Atlanta,  and  at  almost  all  of  the  stations  at  which 
the  train  stopped  between  that  city  and  Tuskegee, 
I  found  a  crowd  of  people  anxious  to  shake  hands 
with  me. 

The  papers  in  all  parts  of  the  United  States  pub- 
lished the  address  in  full,  and  for  months  afterward 
there  were  complimentary  editorial  references  to  it. 
Mr.  Clark  Howell,  the  editor  of  the  Atlanta  Con- 


226  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

stitution,  telegraphed  to  a  New  York  paper,  among 
other  words,  the  following,  "  I  do  not  exaggerate 
when  I  say  that  Professor  Booker  T.  Washington's 
address  yesterday  was  one  of  the  most  notable 
speeches,  both  as  to  character  and  as  to  the 
warmth  of  its  reception,  ever  delivered  to  a  South- 
ern audience.  The  address  was  a  revelation.  The 
whole  speech  is  a  platform  upon  which  blacks 
and  whites  can  stand  with  full  justice  to  each 
other." 

The  Boston  Transcript  said  editorially :  "  The 
speech  of  Booker  T.  Washington  at  the  Atlanta 
Exposition,  this  week,  seems  to  have  dwarfed  all 
the  other  proceedings  and  the  Exposition  itself. 
The  sensation  that  ,it  has  caused  in  the  press  has 
never  been  equalled." 

I  very  soon  began  receiving  all  kinds  of  proposi- 
tions from  lecture  bureaus,  and  editors  of  magazines 
and  papers,  to  take  the  lecture  platform,  and  to 
write  articles.  One  lecture  bureau  offered  me  fifty 
thousand  dollars,  or  two  hundred  dollars  a  night 
and  expenses,  if  I  would  place  my  services  at  its 
disposal  for  a  given  period.  To  all  these  commu- 
nications I  replied  that  my  life-work  was  at  Tuske- 
gee ;  and  that  whenever  I  spoke  it  must  be  in  the 
interests  of  the  Tuskegee  school  and  my  race, 
and  that  I  would  enter  into  no  arrangements  that 


THE    ATLANTA   EXPOSITION   ADDRESS    227 

seemed  to  place  a  mere  commercial  value  upon  my 
services. 

Some  days  after  its  delivery  I  sent  a  copy  of  my 
address  to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  the 
Hon.  Grover  Cleveland.  I  received  from  him  the 
following  autograph  reply:  — 

Gray  Gables,  Buzzard's  Bay,  Mass., 
October  6,  1895. 
Booker  T.  Washington,  Esq%: 

My  Dear  Sir  :  I  thank  you  for  sending  me  a  copy  of 
your  address  delivered  at  the  Atlanta  Exposition. 

I  thank  you  with  much  enthusiasm  for  making  the  ad- 
dress. I  have  read  it  with  intense  interest,  and  I  think 
the  Exposition  would  be  fully  justified  if  it  did  not  do  more 
than  furnish  the  opportunity  for  its  delivery.  Your  words 
cannot  fail  to  delight  and  encourage  all  who  wish  well  for 
your  race ;  and  if  our  coloured  fellow-citizens  do  not  from 
your  utterances  gather  new  hope  and  form  new  determina- 
tions to  gain  every  valuable  advantage  offered  them  by  their 
citizenship,  it  will  be  strange  indeed. 

Yours  very  truly, 

Grover  Cleveland. 

Later  I  met  Mr.  Cleveland,  for  the  first  time, 
when,  as  President,  he  visited  the  Atlanta  Exposi- 
tion. At  the  request  of  myself  and  others  he  con- 
sented to  spend  an  hour  in  the  Negro  Building,  for 
the  purpose  of  inspecting  the  Negro  exhibit  and  of 


228  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

giving  the  coloured  people  in  attendance  an  oppor- 
tunity to  shake  hands  with  him.  As  soon  as  I  met 
Mr.  Cleveland  I  became  impressed  with  his  sim- 
plicity, greatness,  and  rugged  honesty.  I  have  met 
him  many  times  since  then,  both  at  public  functions 
and  at  his  private  residence  in  Princeton,  and  the 
more  I  see  of  him  the  more  I  admire  him.  When 
he  visited  the  Negro  Building  in  Atlanta  he  seemed 
to  give  himself  up  wholly,  for  that  hour,  to  the 
coloured  people.  He  seemed  to  be  as  careful  to 
shake  hands  with  some  old  coloured  "  auntie  "  clad 
partially  in  rags,  and  to  take  as  much  pleasure  in 
doing  so,  as  if  he  were  greeting  some  millionnaire. 
Many  of  the  coloured  people  took  advantage  of  the 
occasion  to  get  him  to  write  his  name  in  a  book  or 
on  a  slip  of  paper.  He  was  as  careful  and  patient 
in  doing  this  as  if  he  were  putting  his  signature  to 
some  great  state  document. 

Mr.  Cleveland  has  not  only  shown  his  friendship 
for  me  in  many  personal  ways,  but  has  always  con- 
sented to  do  anything  I  have  asked  of  him  for  our 
school.  This  he  has  done,  whether  it  was  to  make 
a  personal  donation  or  to  use  his  influence  in  secur- 
ing the  donations  of  others.  Judging  from  my  per- 
sonal acquaintance  with  Mr.  Cleveland,  I  do  not 
believe  that  he  is  conscious  of  possessing  any  colour 
prejudice.     He  is  too  great  for  that.     In  my  con- 


THE   ATLANTA    EXPOSITION    ADDRESS     229 

tact  with  people  I  find  that,  as  a  rule,  it  is  only  the 
little,  narrow  people  who  live  for  themselves,  who 
never  read  good  books,  who  do  not  travel,  who 
never  open  up  their  souls  in  a  way  to  permit  them 
to  come  into  contact  with  other  souls  —  with  the 
great  outside  world.  No  man  whose  vision  is 
bounded  by  colour  can  come  into  contact  with  what 
is  highest  and  best  in  the  world.  In  meeting  men, 
in  many  places,  I  have  found  that  the  happiest  peo- 
ple are  those  who  do  the  most  for  others ;  the  most 
miserable  are  those  who  do  the  least.  I  have  also 
found  that  few  things,  if  any,  are  capable  of  making 
one  so  blind  and  narrow  as  race  prejudice.  I  often 
say  to  our  students,  in  the  course  of  my  talks  to 
them  on  Sunday  evenings  in  the  chapel,  that  the 
longer  I  live  and  the  more  experience  I  have  of 
the  world,  the  more  I  am  convinced  that,  after  all, 
the  one  thing  that  is  most  worth  living  for  —  and 
dying  for,  if  need  be  —  is  the  opportunity  of  mak- 
ing some  one  else  more  happy  and  more  useful. 

The  coloured  people  and  the  coloured  newspapers 
at  first  seemed  to  be  greatly  pleased  with  the  charac- 
ter of  my  Atlanta  address,  as  well  as  with  its  recep- 
tion. But  after  the  first  burst  of  enthusiasm  began 
to  die  away,  and  the  coloured  people  began  reading 
the  speech  in  cold  type,  some  of  them  seemed  to 
feel  that  they  had  been  hypnotized.     They  seemed 


230  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

to  feel  that  I  had  been  too  liberal  in  my  remarks 
toward  the  Southern  whites,  and  that  I  had  not 
spoken  out  strongly  enough  for  what  they  termed 
the  "  rights  "  of  the  race.  For  a  while  there  was  a 
reaction,  so  far  as  a  certain  element  of  my  own  race 
was  concerned,  but  later  these  reactionary  ones 
seemed  to  have  been  won  over  to  my  way  of  be- 
lieving and  acting. 

While  speaking  of  changes  in  public  sentiment,  I 
recall  that  about  ten  years  after  the  school  at  Tuske- 
gee  was  established,  I  had  an  experience  that  I  shall 
never  forget.  Dr.  Lyman  Abbott,  then  the  pastor 
of  Plymouth  Church,  and  also  editor  of  the  Outlook 
(then  the  Christian  Union),  asked  me  to  write  a  let- 
ter for  his  paper  giving  my  opinion  of  the  exact 
condition,  mental  and  moral,  of  the  coloured  minis- 
ters in  the  South,  as  based  upon  my  observations. 
I  wrote  the  letter,  giving  the  exact  facts  as  I  con- 
ceived them  to  be.  The  picture  painted  was  a 
rather  black  one  —  or,  since  I  am  black,  shall  I  say 
"white"?  It  could  not  be  otherwise  with  a  race 
but  a  few  years  out  of  slavery,  a  race  which  had  not 
had  time  or  opportunity  to  produce  a  competent 
ministry. 

What  I  said  soon  reached  every  Negro  minister 
in  the  country,  I  think,  and  the  letters  of  condem- 
nation which   I   received  from   them  were  not  few. 


THE   ATLANTA   EXPOSITION   ADDRESS    231 

I  think,  that  for  a  year  after  the  publication  of  this 
article  every  association  and  every  conference  or 
religious  body  of  any  kind,  of  my  race,  that  met, 
did  not  fail  before  adjourning  to  pass  a  resolution 
condemning  me,  or  calling  upon  me  to  retract  or 
modify  what  I  had  said.  Many  of  these  organiza- 
tions went  so  far  in  their  resolutions  as  to  advise 
parents  to  cease  sending  their  children  to  Tuskegee. 
One  association  even  appointed  a  "  missionary " 
whose  duty  it  was  to  warn  the  people  against  send- 
ing their  children  to  Tuskegee.  This  missionary 
had  a  son  in  the  school,  and  I  noticed  that,  what- 
ever the  "missionary"  might  have  said  or  done 
with  regard  to  others,  he  was  careful  not  to  take 
his  son  away  from  the  institution.  Many  of  the 
coloured  papers,  especially  those  that  were  the 
organs  of  religious  bodies,  joined  in  the  general 
chorus  of  condemnation  or  demands  for  retraction. 
During  the  whole  time  of  the  excitement,  and 
through  all  the  criticism,  I  did  not  utter  a  word  of 
explanation  or  retraction.  I  knew  that  I  was  right, 
and  that  time  and  the  sober  second  thought  of  the 
people  would  vindicate  me.  It  was  not  long  before 
the  bishops  and  other  church  leaders  began  to  make 
a  careful  investigation  of  the  conditions  of  the  min- 
istry, and  they  found  out  that  I  was  right.  In  fact, 
the  oldest  and  most  influential  bishop  in  one  branch 


232  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

of  the  Methodist  Church  said  that  my  words  were 
far  too  mild.  Very  soon  public  sentiment  began 
making  itself  felt,  in  demanding  a  purifying  of  the 
ministry.  While  this  is  not  yet  complete  by  any 
means,  I  think  I  may  say,  without  egotism,  and  I 
have  been  told  by  many  of  our  most  influential 
ministers,  that  my  words  had  much  to  do  with  start-' 
ing  a  demand  for  the  placing  of  a  higher  type  of 
men  in  the  pulpit.  I  have  had  the  satisfaction  of 
having  many  who  once  condemned  me  thank  me 
heartily  for  my  frank  words. 

The  change  of  the  attitude  of  the  Negro  minis- 
try, so  far  as  regards  myself,  is  so  complete  that  at 
the  present  time  I  have  no  warmer  friends  among 
any  class  than  I  have  among  the  clergymen.  The 
improvement  in  the  character  and  life  of  the  Negro 
ministers  is  one  of  the  most  gratifying  evidences  of 
the  progress  of  the  race.  My  experience  with  them, 
as  well  as  other  events  in  my  life,  convince  me  that 
the  thing  to  do,  when  one  feels  sure  that  he  has  said 
or  done  the  right  thing,  and  is  condemned,  is  to 
stand  still  and  keep  quiet.  If  he  is  right,  time  will 
show  it. 

In  the  midst  of  the  discussion  which  was  going  on 
concerning  my  Atlanta  speech,  I  received  the  letter 
which  I  give  below,  from  Dr.  Gilman,  the  President 
of  Johns  Hopkins  University,  who  had  been  made 


THE   ATLANTA    EXPOSITION    ADDRESS    233 

chairman  of  the  judges  of  award  in  connection  with 
the  Atlanta  Exposition  :  — 

Johns  Hopkins  University,    Baltimore, 
President's  Office,  September  30,  1895. 

Dear  Mr.  Washington:  Would  it  be  agreeable  to 
you  to  be  one  of  the  Judges  of  Award  in  the  Department 
of  Education  at  Atlanta  ?  If  so,  I  shall  be  glad  to  place 
your  name  upon  the  list.  A  line  by  telegraph  will  be 
welcomed. 

Yours  very  truly, 

D.  C.   GlLMAN. 

I  think  I  was  even  more  surprised  to  receive  this 
invitation  than  I  had  been  to  receive  the  invitation 
to  speak  at  the  opening  of  the  Exposition.  It  was 
to  be  a  part  of  my  duty,  as  one  of  the  jurors,  to 
pass  not  only  upon  the  exhibits  of  the  coloured 
schools,  but  also  upon  those  of  the  white  schools. 
I  accepted  the  position,  and  spent  a  month  in 
Atlanta  in  performance  of  the  duties  which  it  en- 
tailed. The  board  of  jurors  was  a  large  one,  con- 
sisting in  all  of  sixty  members.  It  was  about 
equally  divided  between  Southern  white  people 
and  Northern  white  people.  Among  them  were 
college  presidents,  leading  scientists  and  men  of 
letters,  and  specialists  in  many  subjects.  When 
the  group  of  jurors  to  which  I  was  assigned  met 
for  organization,   Mr.  Thomas   Nelson   Page,  who 


234  UP    FROM    SLAVERY 

was  one  of  the  number,  moved  that  I  be  made 
secretary  of  that  division,  and  the  motion  was 
unanimously  adopted.  Nearly  half  of  our  divi- 
sion were  Southern  people.  In  performing  my 
duties  in  the  inspection  of  the  exhibits  of  white 
schools  I  was  in  every  case  treated  with  respect, 
and  at  the  close  of  our  labours  I  parted  from  my 
associates  with  regret. 

I  am  often  asked  to  express  myself  more  freely 
than  I  do  upon  the  political  condition  and  the 
political  future  of  my  race.  These  recollections 
of  my  experience  in  Atlanta  give  me  the  opportu- 
nity to  do  so  briefly.  My  own  belief  is,  although 
I  have  never  before  said  so  in  so  many  words,  that 
the  time  will  come  when  the  Negro  in  the  South 
will  be  accorded  all  the  political  rights  which  his 
ability,  character,  and  material  possessions  entitle 
him  to.  I  think,  though,  that  the  opportunity  to 
freely  exercise  such  political  rights  will  not  come  in 
any  large  degree  through  outside  or  artificial  forc- 
ing, but  will  be  accorded  to  the  Negro  by  the 
Southern  white  people  themselves,  and  that  they 
will  protect  him  in  the  exercise  of  those  rights. 
Just  as  soon  as  the  South  gets  over  the  old  feeling 
that  it  is  being  forced  by  "  foreigners,"  or  "  aliens," 
to  do  something  which  it  does  not  want  to  do,  I 
believe  that  the  change  in  the  direction  that  I  have 


THE   ATLANTA   EXPOSITION    ADDRESS    235 

indicated  is  going  to  begin.  In  fact,  there  are  in- 
dications that  it  is  already  beginning  in  a  slight 
degree. 

Let  me  illustrate  my  meaning.  Suppose  that 
some  months  before  the  opening  of  the  Atlanta 
Exposition  there  had  been  a  general  demand  from 
the  press  and  public  platform  outside  the  South 
that  a  Negro  be  given  a  place  on  the  opening  pro- 
gramme, and  that  a  Negro  be  placed  upon  the 
board  of  jurors  of  award.  Would  any  such  recog- 
nition of  the  race  have  taken  place  ?  I  do  not 
think  so.  The  Atlanta  officials  went  as  far  as  they 
did  because  they  felt  it  to  be  a  pleasure,  as  well  as 
a  duty,  to  reward  what  they  considered  merit  in 
the  Negro  race.  Say  what  we  will,  there  is  some- 
thing in  human  nature  which  we  cannot  blot  out, 
which  makes  one  man,  in  the  end,  recognize  and 
reward  merit  in  another,  regardless  of  colour  or 
race. 

I  believe  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Negro  —  as  the 
greater  part  of  the  race  is  already  doing  —  to  deport 
himself  modestly  in  regard  to  political  claims,  de- 
pending upon  the  slow  but  sure  influences  that 
proceed  from  the  possession  of  property,  intelli- 
gence, and  high  character  for  the  full  recognition 
of  his  political  rights.  I  think  that  the  according 
of  the  full  exercise  of  political  rights  is  going  to  be 


236  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

a  matter  of  natural,  slow  growth,  not  an  over-night, 
gourd-vine  affair.  I  do  not  believe  that  the  Negro 
should  cease  voting,  for  a  man  cannot  learn  the 
exercise  of  self-government  by  ceasing  to  vote,  any 
more  than  a  boy  can  learn  to  swim  by  keeping  out 
of  the  water,  but  I  do  believe  that  in  his  voting  he 
should  more  and  more  be  influenced  by  those  of 
intelligence  and  character  who  are  his  next-door 
neighbours. 

I  know  coloured  men  who,  through  the  encour- 
agement, help,  and  advice  of  Southern  white  people, 
have  accumulated  thousands  of  dollars'  worth  of 
property,  but  who,  at  the  same  time,  would  never 
think  of  going  to  those  same  persons  for  advice 
concerning  the  casting  of  their  ballots.  This,  it 
seems  to  me,  is  unwise  and  unreasonable,  and 
should  cease.  In  saying  this  I  do  not  mean  that 
the  Negro  should  truckle,  or  not  vote  from  princi- 
ple, for  the  instant  he  ceases  to  vote  from  principle 
he  loses  the  confidence  and  respect  of  the  Southern 
white  man  even. 

I  do  not  believe  that  any  state  should  make  a 
law  that  permits  an  ignorant  and  poverty-stricken 
white  man  to  vote,  and  prevents  a  black  man  in  the 
same  condition  from  voting.  Such  a  law  is  not 
only  unjust,  but  it  will  react,  as  all  unjust  laws  do, 
in  time ;  for  the  effect  of  such  a  law  is  to  encourage 


THE   ATLANTA   EXPOSITION    ADDRESS    237 

the  Negro  to  secure  education  and  property,  and  at 
the  same  time  it  encourages  the  white  man  to  re- 
main in  ignorance  and  poverty.  I  believe  that  in 
time,  through  the  operation  of  intelligence  and 
friendly  race  relations,  all  cheating  at  the  ballot- 
box  in  the  South  will  cease.  It  will  become  appar- 
ent that  the  white  man  who  begins  by  cheating  a 
Negro  out  of  his  ballot  soon  learns  to  cheat  a  white 
man  out  of  his,  and  that  the  man  who  does  this 
ends  his  career  of  dishonesty  by  the  theft  of  prop- 
erty or  by  some  equally  serious  crime.  In  my 
opinion,  the  time  will  come  when  the  South  will 
encourage  all  of  its  citizens  to  vote.  It  will  see 
that  it  pays  better,  from  every  standpoint,  to  have 
healthy,  vigorous  life  than  to  have  that  political 
stagnation  which  always  results  when  one-half  of 
the  population  has  no  share  and  no  interest  in  the 
Government. 

As  a  rule,  I  believe  in  universal,  free  suffrage, 
but  I  believe  that  in  the  South  we  are  confronted 
with  peculiar  conditions  that  justify  the  protection 
of  the  ballot  in  many  of  the  states,  for  a  while  at 
least,  either  by  an  educational  test,  a  property  test, 
or  by  both  combined  ;  but  whatever  tests  are  re- 
quired, they  should  be  made  to  apply  with  equal 
and  exact  justice  to  both  races. 


CHAPTER   XV 

THE    SECRET    OF    SUCCESS    IN    PUBLIC   SPEAKING 

AS  to  how  my  address  at  Atlanta  was  received 
by  the  audience  in  the  Exposition  building, 
"  I  think  I  prefer  to  let  Mr.  James  Creelman, 
the  noted  war  correspondent,  tell.  Mr.  Creelman 
was  present,  and  telegraphed  the  following  account 
to  the  New  York  World:  — 

Atlanta,   September   18. 

While  President  Cleveland  was  waiting  at  Gray  Gables 
to-day,  to  send  the  electric  spark  that  started  the  machin- 
ery of  the  Atlanta  Exposition,  a  Negro  Moses  stood  before 
a  great  audience  of  white  people  and  delivered  an  oration 
that  marks  a  new  epoch  in  the  history  of  the  South  ;  and 
a  body  of  Negro  troops  marched  in  a  procession  with  the 
citizen  soldiery  of  Georgia  and  Louisiana.  The  whole  city 
is  thrilling  to-night  with  a  realization  of  the  extraordinary 
significance  of  these  two  unprecedented  events.  Nothing 
has  happened  since  Henry  Grady's  immortal  speech  before 
the  New  England  society  in  New  York  that  indicates  so 
profoundly  the  spirit  of  the  New  South,  except,  perhaps, 
the  opening  of  the  Exposition  itself. 

238 


THE    SUCCESS    IN    PUBLIC    SPEAKING     239 

When  Professor  Booker  T.  Washington,  Principal  of 
an  industrial  school  for  coloured  people  in  Tuskegee,  Ala. 
stood  on  the  platform  of  the  Auditorium,  with  the  sun 
shining  over  the  heads  of  his  auditors  into  his  eyes,  and 
with  his  whole  face  lit  up  with  the  fire  of  prophecy,  Clark 
Howell,  the  successor  of  Henry  Grady,  said  to  me,  "That 
man's  speech  is  the  beginning  of  a  moral  revolution  in 
America." 

It  is  the  first  time  that  a  Negro  has  made  a  speech  in 
the  South  on  anv  important  occasion  before  an  audience 
composed  of  white  men  and  women.  It  electrified  the 
audience,  and  the  response  was  as  if  it  had  come  from  the 
throat  of  a  whirlwind. 

Mrs.  Thompson  had  hardly  taken  her  seat  when  all  eyes 
were  turned  on  a  tall  tawny  Negro  sitting  in  the  front  row 
of  the  platform.  It  was  Professor  Booker  T.  Washington, 
President  of  the  Tuskegee  (Alabama)  Normal  and  Indus- 
trial Institute,  who  must  rank  from  this  time  forth  as  the 
foremost  man  of  his  race  in  America.  Gilmore's  Band 
played  the  "  Star-Spangled  Banner,"  and  the  audience 
cheered.  The  tune  changed  to  "Dixie"  and  the  audience 
roared  with  shrill  "  hi-yis."  Again  the  music  changed,  this 
time  to  "Yankee  Doodle,"  and  the  clamour  lessened. 

All  this  time  the  eyes  of  the  thousands  present  looked 
straight  at  the  Negro  orator.  A  strange  thing  was  to  hap- 
pen. A  black  man  was  to  speak  for  his  people,  with  none 
to  interrupt  him.  As  Professor  Washington  strode  to  the 
edge  of  the  stage,  the  low,  descending  sun  shot  fiery  rays 
through  the  windows  into  his  face.  A  great  shout  greeted 
him.  He  turned  his  head  to  avoid  the  blinding  light,  and 
moved  about  the  platform  for  relief.      Then  he  turned   his 


240  UP    FROM    SLAVERY 

wonderful  countenance  to  the  sun  without  a  blink  of  the 
eyelids,  and  began  to  talk. 

There  was  a  remarkable  figure  ;  tall,  bony,  straight  as  a 
Sioux  chief,  high  forehead,  straight  nose,  heavy  jaws,  and 
strong,  determined  mouth,  with  big  white  teeth,  piercing 
eyes,  and  a  commanding  manner.  The  sinews  stood  out 
on  his  bronzed  neck,  and  his  muscular  right  arm  swung 
high  in  the  air,  with  a  lead-pencil  grasped  in  the  clinched 
brown  fist.  His  big  feet  were  planted  squarely,  with  the 
heels  together  and  the  toes  turned  out.  His  voice  rang 
out  clear  and  true,  and  he  paused  impressively  as  he  made 
each  point.  Within  ten  minutes  the  multitude  was  in  an 
uproar  of  enthusiasm — handkerchiefs  were  waved,  canes 
were  flourished,  hats  were  tossed  in  the  air.  The  fairest 
women  of  Georgia  stood  up  and  cheered.  It  was  as  if  the 
orator  had  bewitched  them. 

And  when  he  held  his  dusky  hand  high  above  his  head, 
with  the  fingers  stretched  wide  apart,  and  said  to  the  white 
people  of  the  South  on  behalf  of  his  race,  "  In  all  things 
that  are  purely  social  we  can  be  as  separate  as  the  fingers, 
yet  one  as  the  hand  in  all  things  essential  to  mutual  prog- 
ress," the  great  wave  of  sound  dashed  itself  against  the 
walls,  and  the  whole  audience  was  on  its  feet  in  a  delirium 
of  applause,  and  I  thought  at  that  moment  of  the  night 
when  Henry  Grady  stood  among  the  curling  wreaths  of 
tobacco-smoke  in  Delmonico's  banquet-hall  and  said,  "  I 
am  a  Cavalier  among  Roundheads." 

I  have  heard  the  great  orators  of  many  countries,  but 
not  even  Gladstone  himself  could  have  pleaded  a  cause 
with  more  consummate  power  than  did  this  angular  Negro, 
standing  in  a  nimbus  of  sunshine,  surrounded  by  the  men 


THE   SUCCESS   IN   PUBLIC   SPEAKING     241 

who  once  fought  to  keep  his  race  in  bondage.  The  roar 
might  swell  ever  so  high,  but  the  expression  of  his  earnest 
face  never  changed. 

A  ragged,  ebony  giant,  squatted  on  the  floor  in  one  of 
the  aisles,  watched  the  orator  with  burning  eyes  and  trem- 
ulous face  until  the  supreme  burst  of  applause  came,  and 
then  the  tears  ran  down  his  face.  Most  of  the  Negroes  in 
the  audience  were  crying,  perhaps  without  knowing  just 
why. 

At  the  close  of  the  speech  Governor  Bullock  rushed 
across  the  stage  and  seized  the  orator's  hand.  Another 
shout  greeted  this  demonstration,  and  for  a  few  minutes 
the  two  men  stood  facing  each  other,  hand  in  hand. 

So  far  as  I  could  spare  the  time  from  the  imme- 
diate work  at  Tuskegee,  after  my  Atlanta  address,  I 
accepted  some  of  the  invitations  to  speak  in  public 
which  came  to  me,  especially  those  that  would  take 
me  into  territory  where  I  thought  it  would  pay  to 
plead  the  cause  of  my  race,  but  I  always  did  this 
with  the  understanding  that  I  was  to  be  free  to  talk 
about  my  life-work  and  the  needs  of  my  people. 
I  also  had  it  understood  that  I  was  not  to  speak  in 
the  capacity  of  a  professional  lecturer,  or  for  mere 
commercial  gain. 

In  my  efforts  on  the  public  platform  I  never  have 
been  able  to  understand  why  people  come  to  hear 
me  speak.  This  question  I  never  can  rid  myself 
of.     Time  and  time  again,  as  I   have  stood  in  the 


242  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

street  in  front  of  a  building  and  have  seen  men  and 
women  passing  in  large  numbers  into  the  audience- 
room  where  I  was  to  speak,  I  have  felt  ashamed 
that  I  should  be  the  cause  of  people  —  as  it  seemed 
to  me  —  wasting  a  valuable  hour  of  time.  Some 
years  ago  I  was  to  deliver  an  address  before  a  liter- 
ary society  in  Madison,  Wis.  An  hour  before 
the  time  set  for  me  to  speak,  a  fierce  snow-storm 
began,  and  continued  for  several  hours.  I  made  up 
my  mind  that  there  would  be  no  audience,  and  that 
I  should  not  have  to  speak,  but,  as  a  matter  of  duty, 
I  went  to  the  church,  and  found  it  packed  with  peo- 
ple. The  surprise  gave  me  a  shock  that  I  did  not 
recover  from  during  the  whole  evening. 

People  often  ask  me  if  I  feel  nervous  before 
speaking,  or  else  they  suggest  that,  since  I  speak  so 
often,  they  suppose  that  I  get  used  to  it.  In  answer 
to  this  question  I  have  to  say  that  I  always  suffer 
intensely  from  nervousness  before  speaking.  More 
than  once,  just  before  I  was  to  make  an  important 
address,  this  nervous  strain  has  been  so  great  that 
I  have  resolved  never  again  to  speak  in  public.  I 
not  only  feel  nervous  before  speaking,  but  after  I 
have  finished  I  usually  feel  a  sense  of  regret,  because 
it  seems  to  me  as  if  I  had  left  out  of  my  address  the 
main  thing  and  the  best  thing  that  I  had  meant  to  say. 

There  is  a  great   compensation,  though,  for  this 


THE    SUCCESS    IN    PUBLIC   SPEAKING     243 

preliminary  nervous  suffering,  that  comes  to  me 
after  I  have  been  speaking  for  about  ten  minutes, 
and  have  come  to  feel  that  I  have  really  mastered 
my  audience,  and  that  we  have  gotten  into  full  and 
complete  sympathy  with  each  other.  It  seems  to  me 
that  there  is  rarely  such  a  combination  of  mental  and 
physical  delight  in  any  effort  as  that  which  comes  to 
a  public  speaker  when  he  feels  that  he  has  a  great 
audience  completely  within  his  control.  There  is  a 
thread  of  sympathy  and  oneness  that  connects  a  pub- 
lic speaker  with  his  audience,  that  is  just  as  strong  as 
though  it  was  something  tangible  and  visible.  If 
in  an  audience  of  a  thousand  people  there  is  one 
person  who  is  not  in  sympathy  with  my  views,  or 
is  inclined  to  be  doubtful,  cold,  or  critical,  I  can 
pick  him  out.  When  I  have  found  him  I  usually 
go  straight  at  him,  and  it  is  a  great  satisfaction  to 
watch  the  process  of  his  thawing  out.  I  find  that 
the  most  effective  medicine  for  such  individuals  is 
administered  at  first  in  the  form  of  a  story,  although 
I  never  tell  an  anecdote  simply  for  the  sake  of  tell- 
ing one.  That  kind  of  thing,  I  think,  is  empty  and 
hollow,  and  an  audience  soon  finds  it  out. 

I  believe  that  one  always  does  himself  and  his 
audience  an  injustice  when  he  speaks  merely  for  the 
sake  of  speaking.  I  do  not  believe  that  one  should 
speak  unless,  deep  down  in  his  heart,  he  feels  con- 


244  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

vinced  that  he  has  a  message  to  deliver.  When 
one  feels,  from  the  bottom  of  his  feet  to  the  top  of 
his  head,  that  he  has  something  to  say  that  is  going 
to  help  some  individual  or  some  cause,  then  let  him 
say  it ;  and  in  delivering  his  message  I  do  not 
believe  that  many  of  the  artificial  rules  of  elocution 
can,  under  such  circumstances,  help  him  very  much. 
Although  there  are  certain  things,  such  as  pauses, 
breathing,  and  pitch  of  voice,  that  are  very  impor- 
tant, none  of  these  can  take  the  place  of  soul  in  an 
address.  When  I  have  an  address  to  deliver,  I  like 
to  forget  all  about  the  rules  for  the  proper  use  of 
the  English  language,  and  all  about  rhetoric  and 
that  sort  of  thing,  and  I  like  to  make  the  audience 
forget  all  about  these  things,  too. 

Nothing  tends  to  throw  me  off  my  balance  so 
quickly,  when  I  am  speaking,  as  to  have  some  one 
leave  the  room.  To  prevent  this,  I  make  up  my 
mind,  as  a  rule,  that  I  will  try  to  make  my  address 
so  interesting,  will  try  to  state  so  many  interesting 
facts  one  after  another,  that  no  one  can  leave.  The 
average  audience,  I  have  come  to  believe,  wants 
facts  rather  than  generalities  or  sermonizing.  Most 
people,  I  think,  are  able  to  draw  proper  conclusions 
if  they  are  given  the  facts  in  an  interesting  form  on 
which  to  base  them. 

As  to  the  kind  of  audience  that  I  like  best  to 


THE   SUCCESS    IN    PUBLIC   SPEAKING     245 

talk  to,  I  would  put  at  the  top  of  the  list  an  organi- 
zation of  strong,  wide-awake,  business  men,  such, 
for  example,  as  is  found  in  Boston,  New  York,  Chi- 
cago, and  Buffalo.  I  have  found  no  other  audience 
so  quick  to  see  a  point,  and  so  responsive.  Within 
the  last  few  years  I  have  had  the  privilege  of  speak- 
ing before  most  of  the  leading  organizations  of  this 
kind  in  the  large  cities  of  the  United  States.  The 
best  time  to  get  hold  of  an  organization  of  business 
men  is  after  a  good  dinner,  although  I  think  that 
one  of  the  worst  instruments  of  torture  that  was 
ever  invented  is  the  custom  which  makes  it  neces- 
sary for  a  speaker  to  sit  through  a  fourteen-course 
dinner,  every  minute  of  the  time  feeling  sure  that 
his  speech  is  going  to  prove  a  dismal  failure  and 
disappointment. 

I  rarely  take  part  in  one  of  these  long  dinners 
that  I  do  not  wish  that  I  could  put  myself  back  in 
the  little  cabin  where  I  was  a  slave  boy,  and  again 
go  through  the  experience  there  —  one  that  I  shall 
never  forget  —  of  getting  molasses  to  eat  once  a 
week  from  the  "  big  house."  Our  usual  diet  on 
the  plantation  was  corn  bread  and  pork,  but  on 
Sunday  morning  my  mother  was  permitted  to  bring 
down  a  little  molasses  from  the  <c  big  house  "  for  her 
three  children,  and  when  it  was  received  how  I  did 
wish  that  every  day  was  Sunday  !      I  would  get  my 


246  UP    FROM    SLAVERY 

tin  plate  and  hold  it  up  for  the  sweet  morsel,  but  I 
would  always  shut  my  eyes  while  the  molasses  was 
being  poured  out  into  the  plate,  with  the  hope  that 
when  I  opened  them  I  would  be  surprised  to  see 
how  much  I  had  got.  When  I  opened  my  eyes  I 
would  tip  the  plate  in  one  direction  and  another,  so 
as  to  make  the  molasses  spread  all  over  it,  in  the 
full  belief  that  there  would  be  more  of  it  and  that  it 
would  last  longer  if  spread  out  in  this  way.  So 
strong  are  my  childish  impressions  of  those  Sunday 
morning  feasts  that  it  would  be  pretty  hard  for  any 
one  to  convince  me  that  there  is  not  more  molasses 
on  a  plate  when  it  is  spread  all  over  the  plate  than 
when  it  occupies  a  little  corner  —  if  there  is  a  corner 
in  a  plate.  At  any  rate,  I  have  never  believed  in 
"  cornering  "  syrup.  My  share  of  the  syrup  was 
usually  about  two  tablespoonfuls,  and  those  two 
spoonfuls  of  molasses  were  much  more  enjoyable  to 
me  than  is  a  fourteen-course  dinner  after  which  I 
am  to  speak. 

Next  to  a  company  of  business  men,  I  prefer  to 
speak  to  an  audience  of  Southern  people,  of  either 
race,  together  or  taken  separately.  Their  enthusi- 
asm and  responsiveness  are  a  constant  delight.  The 
"amens"  and  "  dat's  de  truf"  that  come  spontane- 
ously from  the  coloured  individuals  are  calculated  to 
spur  any  speaker  on  to  his  best  efforts.     I  think 


THE    SUCCESS   IN    PUBLIC    SPEAKING     247 

that  next  in  order  of  preference  I  would  place  a 
college  audience.  It  has  been  my  privilege  to 
deliver  addresses  at  many  of  our  leading  colleges, 
including  Harvard,  Yale,  Williams,  Amherst,  Fisk 
University,  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  Welles- 
ley,  the  University  of  Michigan,  Trinity  College  in 
North  Carolina,  and  many  others. 

It  has  been  a  matter  of  deep  interest  to  me  to 
note  the  number  of  people  who  have  come  to  shake 
hands  with  me  after  an  address,  who  say  that  this 
is  the  first  time  they  have  ever  called  a  Negro 
"  Mister." 

When  speaking  directly  in  the  interests  of  the 
Tuskegee  Institute,  I  usually  arrange,  some  time  in 
advance,  a  series  of  meetings  in  important  centres. 
This  takes  me  before  churches,  Sunday-schools, 
Christian  Endeavour  Societies,  and  men's  and 
women's  clubs.  When  doing  this  I  sometimes 
speak  before  as  many  as  four  organizations  in  a 
single  day. 

Three  years  ago,  at  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Morris 
K.  Jesup,  of  New  York,  and  Dr.  J.  L.  M.  Curry,  the 
general  agent  of  the  fund,  the  trustees  of  the  John 
F.  Slater  Fund  voted  a  sum  of  money  to  be  used 
in  paying  the  expenses  of  Mrs.  Washington  and 
myself  while  holding  a  series  of  meetings  among 
the  coloured  people  in  the  large  centres  of  Negro 


248  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

population,  especially  in  the  large  cities  of  the 
ex-slaveholding  states.  Each  year  during  the  last 
three  years  we  have  devoted  some  weeks  to  this 
work.  The  plan  that  we  have  followed  has  been 
for  me  to  speak  in  the  morning  to  the  ministers, 
teachers,  and  professional  men.  In  the  afternoon 
Mrs.  Washington  would  speak  to  the  women  alone, 
and  in  the  evening  I  spoke  to  a  large  mass-meet- 
ing. In  almost  every  case  the  meetings  have  been 
attended  not  only  by  the  coloured  people  in  large 
numbers,  but  by  the  white  people.  In  Chatta- 
nooga, Tenn.,  for  example,  there  was  present  at 
the  mass-meeting  an  audience  of  not  less  than  three 
thousand  persons,  and  I  was  informed  that  eight 
hundred  of  these  were  white.  I  have  done  no  work 
that  I  really  enjoyed  more  than  this,  or  that  I  think 
has  accomplished  more  good. 

These  meetings  have  given  Mrs.  Washington 
and  myself  an  opportunity  to  get  first-hand,  accu- 
rate information  as  to  the  real  condition  of  the  race, 
by  seeing  the  people  in  their  homes,  their  churches, 
their  Sunday-schools,  and  their  places  of  work,  as 
well  as  in  the  prisons  and  dens  of  crime.  These 
meetings  also  gave  us  an  opportunity  to  see  the 
relations  that  exist  between  the  races.  I  never  feel 
so  hopeful  about  the  race  as  I  do  after  being 
engaged  in  a  series  of  these  meetings.     I  know  that 


THE    SUCCESS   IN   PUBLIC   SPEAKING     249 

on  such  occasions  there  is  much  that  comes  to  the 
surface  that  is  superficial  and  deceptive,  but  I  have 
had  experience  enough  not  to  be  deceived  by  mere 
signs  and  fleeting  enthusiasms.  I  have  taken  pains 
to  go  to  the  bottom  of  things  and  get  facts,  in  a 
cold,  business-like  manner. 

I  have  seen  the  statement  made  lately,  by  one 
who  claims  to  know  what  he  is  talking  about,  that, 
taking  the  whole  Negro  race  into  account,  ninety 
per  cent  of  the  Negro  women  are  not  virtuous. 
There  never  was  a  baser  falsehood  uttered  concern- 
ing a  race,  or  a  statement  made  that  was  less  capable 
of  being  proved  by  actual  facts. 

No  one  can  come  into  contact  with  the  race  for 
twenty  years,  as  I  have  done  in  the  heart  of  the 
South,  without  being  convinced  that  the  race  is 
constantly  making  slow  but  sure  progress  materially, 
educationally,  and  morally.  One  might  take  up 
the  life  of  the  worst  element  in  New  York  City,  for 
example,  and  prove  almost  anything  he  wanted  to 
prove  concerning  the  white  man,  but  all  will  agree 
that  this  is  not  a  fair  test. 

Early  in  the  year  1897  I  received  a  letter  inviting 
me  to  deliver  an  address  at  the  dedication  of  the 
Robert  Gould  Shaw  monument  in  Boston.  I  ac- 
cepted the  invitation.  It  is  not  necessary  for  me, 
I  am  sure,  to  explain  who  Robert  Gould  Shaw  was, 


250  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

and  what  he  did.  The  monument  to  his  memory 
stands  near  the  head  of  Boston  Common,  facing  the 
State  House.  It  is  counted  to  be  the  most  perfect 
piece  of  art  of  the  kind  to  be  found  in  the  country. 
The  exercises  connected  with  the  dedication  were 
held  in  Music  Hall,  in  Boston,  and  the  great  hall 
was  packed  from  top  to  bottom  with  one  of  the 
most  distinguished  audiences  that  ever  assembled 
in  the  city.  Among  those  present  there  were  more 
persons  representing  the  famous  old  anti-slavery 
element  than  it  is  likely  will  ever  be  brought  to- 
gether in  the  country  again.  The  late  Hon.  Roger 
Wolcott,  then  Governor  of  Massachusetts,  was  the 
presiding  officer,  and  on  the  platform  with  him 
were  many  other  officials  and  hundreds  of  distin- 
guished men.  A  report  of  the  meeting  which 
appeared  in  the  Boston  Transcript  will  describe  it 
better  than  any  words  of  mine  could  do :  — 

The  core  and  kernel  of  yesterday's  great  noon  meeting 
in  honour  of  the  Brotherhood  of  Man,  in  Music  Hall,  was 
the  superb  address  of  the  Negro  President  of  Tuskegee. 
"  Booker  T.  Washington  received  his  Harvard  A.  M.  last 
June,  the  first  of  his  race,"  said  Governor  Wolcott,  "  to 
receive  an  honorary  degree  from  the  oldest  university  in 
the  land,  and  this  for  the  wise  leadership  of  his  people." 
When  Mr.  Washington  rose  in  the  flag-filled,  enthusiasm- 
warmed,  patriotic,  and  glowing  atmosphere  of  Music  Hall, 


THE   SUCCESS   IN   PUBLIC   SPEAKING     251 

people  felt  keenly  that  here  was  the  civic  justification  of 
the  old  abolition  spirit  of  Massachusetts ;  in  his  person  the 
proof  of  her  ancient  and  indomitable  faith  ;  in  his  strong 
thought  and  rich  oratory,  the  crown  and  glory  of  the  old 
war  days  of  suffering  and  strife.  The  scene  was  full  of 
historic  beauty  and  deep  significance.  "  Cold  "  Boston 
was  alive  with  the  fire  that  is  always  hot  in  her  heart  for 
righteousness  and  truth.  Rows  and  rows  of  people  who 
are  seldom  seen  at  any  public  function,  whole  families  of 
those  who  are  certain  to  be  out  of  town  on  a  holiday, 
crowded  the  place  to  overflowing.  The  city  was  at  her 
birthright  fete  in  the  persons  of  hundreds  of  her  best 
citizens,  men  and  women  whose  names  and  lives  stand  for 
the  virtues  that  make  for  honourable  civic  pride. 

Battle-music  had  filled  the  air.  Ovation  after  ovation, 
applause  warm  and  prolonged,  had  greeted  the  officers 
and  friends  of  Colonel  Shaw,  the  sculptor,  St.  Gaudens, 
the  memorial  Committee,  the  Governor  and  his  stafF,  and 
the  Negro  soldiers  of  the  Fifty-fourth  Massachusetts  as 
they  came  upon  the  platform  or  entered  the  hall.  Colonel 
Henry  Lee,  of  Governor  Andrew's  old  staff,  had  made  a 
noble,  simple  presentation  speech  for  the  committee,  pay- 
ing tribute  to  Mr.  John  M.  Forbes,  in  whose  stead  he 
served.  Governor  Wolcott  had  made  his  short,  memora- 
ble speech,  saying,  "  Fort  Wagner  marked  an  epoch  in 
the  history  of  a  race,  and  called  it  into  manhood."  Mayor 
Quincy  had  received  the  monument  for  the  city  of  Boston. 
The  story  of  Colonel  Shaw  and  his  black  regiment  had 
been  told  in  gallant  words,  and  then,  after  the  singing  of 

Mine  eyes  have  seen  the  glory 
Of  the  coming  of  the  Lord, 


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Booker  Washington  arose.  It  was,  of  course,  just  the 
moment  for  him.  The  multitude,  shaken  out  of  its  usual 
symphony-concert  calm,  quivered  with  an  excitement  that 
was  not  suppressed.  A  dozen  times  it  had  sprung  to  its  feet 
to  cheer  and  wave  and  hurrah,  as  one  person.  When  this 
man  of  culture  and  voice  and  power,  as  well  as  a  dark  skin, 
began,  and  uttered  the  names  of  Stearns  and  of  Andrew, 
feeling  began  to  mount.  You  could  see  tears  glisten  in 
the  eyes  of  soldiers  and  civilians.  When  the  orator  turned 
to  the  coloured  soldiers  on  the  platform,  to  the  colour-bearer 
of  Fort  Wagner,  who  smilingly  bore  still  the  flag  he  had 
never  lowered  even  when  wounded,  and  said,  "  To  you,  to 
the  scarred  and  scattered  remnants  of  the  Fifty-fourth, 
who,  with  empty  sleeve  and  wanting  leg,  have  honoured 
this  occasion  with  your  presence,  to  you,  your  commander 
is  not  dead.  Though  Boston  erected  no  monument  and 
history  recorded  no  story,  in  you  and  in  the  loyal  race 
which  you  represent,  Robert  Gould  Shaw  would  have  a 
monument  which  time  could  not  wear  away,"  then  came 
the  climax  of  the  emotion  of  the  day  and  the  hour.  It  was 
Roger  Wolcott,  as  well  as  the  Governor  of  Massachusetts, 
the  individual  representative  of  the  people's  sympathy  as 
well  as  the  chief  magistrate,  who  had  sprung  first  to  his 
feet  and  cried,  "  Three  cheers  to  Booker  T.  Washington  !  " 

Among  those  on  the  platform  was  Sergeant  Will- 
iam H.  Carney,  of  New  Bedford,  Mass.,  the  brave 
coloured  officer  who  was  the  colour-bearer  at  Fort 
Wagner  and  held  the  American  flag.  In  spite  of 
the  fact  that  a  large  part  of  his  regiment  was  killed, 


THE   SUCCESS    IN   PUBLIC   SPEAKING     253 

he  escaped,  and  exclaimed,  after  the  battle  was  over, 
"The  old  flag  never  touched  the  ground." 

This  flag  Sergeant  Carney  held  in  his  hands  as 
he  sat  on  the  platform,  and  when  I  turned  to  address 
the  survivors  of  the  coloured  regiment  who  were 
present,  and  referred  to  Sergeant  Carney,  he  rose, 
as  if  by  instinct,  and  raised  the  flag.  It  has  been 
my  privilege  to  witness  a  good  many  satisfactory 
and  rather  sensational  demonstrations  in  connection 
with  some  of  my  public  addresses,  but  in  dramatic 
effect  I  have  never  seen  or  experienced  anything 
which  equalled  this.  For  a  number  of  minutes  the 
audience  seemed  to  entirely  lose  control  of  itself. 

In  the  general  rejoicing  throughout  the  country 
which  followed  the  close  of  the  Spanish-American 
war,  peace  celebrations  were  arranged  in  several  of 
the  large  cities.  I  was  asked  by  President  William 
R.  Harper,  of  the  University  of  Chicago,  who  was 
chairman  of  the  committee  of  invitations  for  the 
celebration  to  be  held  in  the  city  of  Chicago,  to 
deliver  one  of  the  addresses  at  the  celebration  there. 
I  accepted  the  invitation,  and  delivered  two  addresses 
there  during  the  Jubilee  week.  The  first  of  these, 
and  the  principal  one,  was  given  in  the  Auditorium, 
on  the  evening  of  Sunday,  October  16.  This  was 
the  largest  audience  that  I  have  ever  addressed,  in 
any  part  of  the  country  ;    and  besides  speaking  in 


254  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

the  main  Auditorium,  I  also  addressed,  that  same 
evening,  two  overflow  audiences  in  other  parts  of 
the  city. 

It  was  said  that  there  were  sixteen  thousand  per- 
sons in  the  Auditorium,  and  it  seemed  to  me  as  if 
there  were  as  many  more  on  the  outside  trying  to 
get  in.  It  was  impossible  for  any  one  to  get  near 
the  entrance  without  the  aid  of  a  policeman.  Presi- 
dent William  McKinley  attended  this  meeting,  as 
did  also  the  members  of  his  Cabinet,  many  foreign 
ministers,  and  a  large  number  of  army  and  navy 
officers,  many  of  whom  had  distinguished  them- 
selves in  the  war  which  had  just  closed.  The  speak- 
ers, besides  myself,  on  Sunday  evening,  were  Rabbi 
Emil  G.  Hirsch,  Father  Thomas  P.  Hodnett,  and 
Dr.  John  H.  Barrows. 

The  Chicago  Times-Herald,  in  describing  the 
meeting,  said  of  my  address  :  — 

He  pictured  the  Negro  choosing  slavery  rather  than  ex- 
tinction ;  recalled  Crispus  Attucks  shedding  his  blood  at 
the  beginning  of  the  American  Revolution,  that  white 
Americans  might  be  free,  while  black  Americans  remained 
in  slavery  ;  rehearsed  the  conduct  of  the  Negroes  with 
Jackson  at  New  Orleans  ;  drew  a  vivid  and  pathetic  pic- 
ture of  the  Southern  slaves  protecting  and  supporting  the 
families  of  their  masters  while  the  latter  were  fighting  to 
perpetuate  black   slavery ;    recounted   the   bravery  of  col- 


THE    SUCCESS    IN    PUBLIC    SPEAKING     255 

oured  troops  at  Port  Hudson  and  Forts  Wagner  and  Pil- 
low, and  praised  the  heroism  of  the  black  regiments  that 
stormed  El  Caney  and  Santiago  to  give  freedom  to  the 
enslaved  people  of  Cuba,  forgetting,  for  the  time  being,  the 
unjust  discrimination  that  law  and  custom  make  against 
them  in  their  own  country. 

In  all  of  these  things,  the  speaker  declared,  his  race  had 
chosen  the  better  part.  And  then  he  made  his  eloquent  ap- 
peal to  the  consciences  of  the  white  Americans  :  "When  you 
have  gotten  the  full  story  of  the  heroic  conduct  of  the  Negro 
in  the  Spanish-American  war,  have  heard  it  from  the  lips 
of  Northern  soldier  and  Southern  soldier,  from  ex-abolition- 
ist and  ex-masters,  then  decide  within  yourselves  whether 
a  race  that  is  thus  willing  to  die  for  its  country  should  not 
be  given  the  highest  opportunity  to  live  for  its  country." 

The  part  of  the  speech  which  seemed  to  arouse 
the  wildest  and  most  sensational  enthusiasm  was 
that  in  which  I  thanked  the  President  for  his  recog- 
nition of  the  Negro  in  his  appointments  during  the 
Spanish-American  war.  The  President  was  sitting 
in  a  box  at  the  right  of  the  stage.  When  I  addressed 
him  I  turned  toward  the  box,  and  as  I  finished  the 
sentence  thanking  him  for  his  generosity,  the  whole 
audience  rose  and  cheered  again  and  again,  waving 
handkerchiefs  and  hats  and  canes,  until  the  Presi- 
dent arose  in  the  box  and  bowed  his  acknowledg- 
ments. At  that  the  enthusiasm  broke  out  again, 
and  the  demonstration  was  almost  indescribable. 


256  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

One  portion  of  my  address  at  Chicago  seemed 
to  have  been  misunderstood  by  the  Southern  press, 
and  some  of  the  Southern  papers  took  occasion  to 
criticise  me  rather  strongly.  These  criticisms  con- 
tinued for  several  weeks,  until  I  finally  received  a 
letter  from  the  editor  of  the  Age-Herald,  published 
in  Birmingham,  Ala.,  asking  me  if  I  would  say  just 
what  I  meant  by  this  part  of  my  address.  I  re- 
plied to  him  in  a  letter  which  seemed  to  satisfy  my 
critics.  In  this  letter  I  said  that  I  had  made  it  a 
rule  never  to  say  before  a  Northern  audience  any- 
thing that  I  would  not  say  before  an  audience  in 
the  South.  I  said  that  I  did  not  think  it  was 
necessary  for  me  to  go  into  extended  explanations ;  if 
my  seventeen  years  of  work  in  the  heart  of  the 
South  had  not  been  explanation  enough,  I  did  not 
see  how  words  could  explain.  I  said  that  I  made 
the  same  plea  that  I  had  made  in  my  address  at 
Atlanta,  for  the  blotting  out  of  race  prejudice  in 
"  commercial  and  civil  relations."  I  said  that  what 
is  termed  social  recognition  was  a  question  which 
I  never  discussed,  and  then  I  quoted  from  my  At- 
lanta address  what  I  had  said  there  in  regard  to  that 
subject. 

In  meeting  crowds  of  people  at  public  gatherings, 
there  is  one  type  of  individual  that  I  dread.  I 
mean  the  crank.      I   have  become  so  accustomed  to 


THE    SUCCESS    IN   PUBLIC   SPEAKING     257 

these  people  now  that  I  can  pick  them  out  at  a 
distance  when  I  see  them  elbowing  their  way  up  to 
me.  The  average  crank  has  a  long  beard,  poorly 
cared  for,  a  lean,  narrow  face,  and  wears  a  black 
coat.  The  front  of  his  vest  and  coat  are  slick 
with  grease,  and  his  trousers  bag  at  the  knees. 

In  Chicago,  after  I  had  spoken  at  a  meeting,  I 
met  one  of  these  fellows.  They  usually  have  some 
process  for  curing  all  of  the  ills  of  the  world  at  once. 
This  Chicago  specimen  had  a  patent  process  by 
which  he  said  Indian  corn  could  be  kept  through 
a  period  of  three  or  four  years,  and  he  felt  sure  that 
if  the  Negro  race  in  the  South  would,  as  a  whole, 
adopt  his  process,  it  would  settle  the  whole  race 
question.  It  mattered  nothing  that  I  tried  to  con- 
vince him  that  our  present  problem  was  to  teach 
the  Negroes  how  to  produce  enough  corn  to  last 
them  through  one  year.  Another  Chicago  crank 
had  a  scheme  by  which  he  wanted  me  to  join  him 
in  an  effort  to  close  up  all  the  National  banks  in 
the  country.  If  that  was  done,  he  felt  sure  it 
would  put  the  Negro  on  his  feet. 

The  number  of  people  who  stand  ready  to  con- 
sume one's  time,  to  no  purpose,  is  almost  countless. 
At  one  time  I  spoke  before  a  large  audience  in 
Boston  in  the  evening.  The  next  morning  I  was 
awakened  by  having  a  card  brought  to  my  room, 


258  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

and  with  it  a  message  that  some  one  was  anxious  to 
see  me.  Thinking  that  it  must  be  something  very 
important,  I  dressed  hastily  and  went  down.  When 
I  reached  the  hotel  office  I  found  a  blank  and 
innocent-looking  individual  waiting  for  me,  who 
coolly  remarked:  "I  heard  you  talk  at  a  meeting 
last  night.  I  rather  liked  your  talk,  and  so  I  came 
in  this  morning  to  hear  you  talk  some  more." 

I  am  often  asked  how  it  is  possible  for  me  to 
superintend  the  work  at  Tuskegee  and  at  the 
same  time  be  so  much  away  from  the  school.  In 
partial  answer  to  this  I  would  say  that  I  think  I 
have  learned,  in  some  degree  at  least,  to  disregard 
the  old  maxim  which  says,  "  Do  not  get  others  to 
do  that  which  you  can  do  yourself."  My  motto, 
on  the  other  hand,  is,  "  Do  not  do  that  which 
others  can  do  as  well." 

One  of  the  most  encouraging  signs  in  connection 
with  the  Tuskegee  school  is  found  in  the  fact  that 
the  organization  is  so  thorough  that  the  daily  work 
of  the  school  is  not  dependent  upon  the  presence 
of  any  one  individual.  The  whole  executive  force, 
including  instructors  and  clerks,  now  numbers 
eighty-six.  This  force  is  so  organized  and  sub- 
divided that  the  machinery  of  the  school  goes 
on    day    by    day   like  clockwork.       Most   of  our 


THE   SUCCESS   IN    PUBLIC    SPEAKING     259 

teachers  have  been  connected  with  the  institution 
for  a  number  of  years,  and  are  as  much  interested 
in  it  as  I  am.  In  my  absence,  Mr.  Warren  Logan, 
the  treasurer,  who  has  been  at  the  school  seven- 
teen years,  is  the  executive.  He  is  efficiently  sup- 
ported by  Mrs.  Washington,  and  by  my  faithful 
secretary,  Mr.  Emmett  J.  Scott,  who  handles  the 
bulk  of  my  correspondence  and  keeps  me  in  daily 
touch  with  the  life  of  the  school,  and  who  also 
keeps  me  informed  of  whatever  takes  place  in  the 
South  that  concerns  the  race.  I  owe  more  to  his 
tact,  wisdom,  and  hard  work  than  I  can  describe. 

The  main  executive  work  of  the  school,  whether 
I  am  at  Tuskegee  or  not,  centres  in  what  we  call 
the  executive  council.  This  council  meets  twice  a 
week,  and  is  composed  of  the  nine  persons  who  are 
at  the  head  of  the  nine  departments  of  the  school. 
For  example :  Mrs.  B.  K.  Bruce,  the  Lady  Princi- 
pal, the  widow  of  the  late  ex-senator  Bruce,  is  a 
member  of  the  council,  and  represents  in  it  all  that 
pertains  to  the  life  of  the  girls  at  the  school.  In 
addition  to  the  executive  council  there  is  a  financial 
committee  of  six,  that  meets  every  week  and  decides 
upon  the  expenditures  for  the  week.  Once  a 
month,  and  sometimes  oftener,  there  is  a  general 
meeting  of  all  the  instructors.  Aside  from  these 
there   are    innumerable    smaller    meetings,   such   as 


260  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

that  of  the  instructors  in  the  Phelps  Hall  Bible 
Training  School,  or  of  the  instructors  in  the  agri- 
cultural department. 

In  order  that  I  may  keep  in  constant  touch  with 
the  life  of  the  institution,  I  have  a  system  of  reports 
so  arranged  that  a  record  of  the  school's  work, 
reaches  me  every  day  in  the  year,  no  matter  in 
what  part  of  the  country  I  am.  I  know  by  these 
reports  even  what  students  are  excused  from  school, 
and  why  they  are  excused  —  whether  for  reasons  of 
ill  health  or  otherwise.  Through  the  medium 
of  these  reports  I  know  each  day  what  the  income 
of  the  school  in  money  is ;  I  know  how  many 
gallons  of  milk  and  how  many  pounds  of  butter 
come  from  the  dairy  ;  what  the  bill  of  fare  for  the 
teachers  and  students  is ;  whether  a  certain  kind 
of  meat  was  boiled  or  baked,  and  whether  certain 
vegetables  served  in  the  dining  room  were  bought 
from  a  store  or  procured  from  our  own  farm. 
Human  nature  I  find  to  be  very  much  the  same  the 
world  over,  and  it  is  sometimes  not  hard  to  yield 
to  the  temptation  to  go  to  a  barrel  of  rice  that  has 
come  from  the  store  —  with  the  grain  all  prepared 
to  go  into  the  pot  —  rather  than  to  take  the  time 
and  trouble  to  go  to  the  field  and  dig  and  wash 
one's  own  sweet  potatoes,  which  might  be  prepared 
in  a  manner  to  take  the  place  of  the  rice. 


THE   SUCCESS   IN    PUBLIC   SPEAKING     261 

I  am  often  asked  how,  in  the  midst  of  so  much 
work,  a  large  part  of  which  is  before  the  public,  I 
can  find  time  for  any  rest  or  recreation,  and  what 
kind  of  recreation  or  sports  I  am  fond  of.  This  is 
rather  a  difficult  question  to  answer.  I  have  a  strong 
feeling  that  every  individual  owes  it  to  himself,  and 
to  the  cause  which  he  is  serving,  to  keep  a  vigorous, 
healthy  body,  with  the  nerves  steady  and  strong, 
prepared  for  great  efforts  and  prepared  for  disap- 
pointments and  trying  positions.  As  far  as  I  can, 
I  make  it  a  rule  to  plan  for  each  day's  work  —  not 
merely  to  go  through  with  the  same  routine  of  daily 
duties,  but  to  get  rid  of  the  routine  work  as  early 
in  the  day  as  possible,  and  then  to  enter  upon  some 
new  or  advance  work.  I  make  it  a  rule  to  clear 
my  desk  every  day,  before  leaving  my  office,  of  all 
correspondence  and  memoranda,  so  that  on  the 
morrow  I  can  begin  a  new  day  of  work.  I  make 
it  a  rule  never  to  let  my  work  drive  me,  but  to  so 
master  it,  and  keep  it  in  such  complete  control,  and 
to  keep  so  far  ahead  of  it,  that  I  will  be  the  master 
instead  of  the  servant.  There  is  a  physical  and 
mental  and  spiritual  enjoyment  that  comes  from  a 
consciousness  of  being  the  absolute  master  of  one's 
work,  in  all  its  details,  that  is  very  satisfactory  and 
inspiring.  My  experience  teaches  me  that,  if  one 
Jearns   to  follow  this   plan,  he   gets   a  freshness   of 


262  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

body  and  vigour  of  mind  out  of  work  that  goes  a 
long  way  toward  keeping  him  strong  and  healthy. 
I  believe  that  when  one  can  grow  to  the  point  where 
he  loves  his  work,  this  gives  him  a  kind  of  strength 
that  is  most  valuable. 

When  I  begin  my  work  in  the  morning,  I  expect 
to  have  a  successful  and  pleasant  day  of  it,  but  at 
the  same  time  I  prepare  myself  for  unpleasant  and 
unexpected  hard  places.  I  prepare  myself  to  hear 
that  one  of  our  school  buildings  is  on  fire,  or  has 
burned,  or  that  some  disagreeable  accident  has  oc- 
curred, or  that  some  one  has  abused  me  in  a  public 
address  or  printed  article,  for  something  that  I  have 
done  or  omitted  to  do,  or  for  something  that  he  had 
heard  that  I  had  said  —  probably  something  that 
I  had  never  thought  of  saying. 

In  nineteen  years  of  continuous  work  I  have  taken 
but  one  vacation.  That  was  two  years  ago,  when 
some  of  my  friends  put  the  money  into  my  hands 
and  forced  Mrs.  Washington  and  myself  to  spend 
three  months  in  Europe.  I  have  said  that  I  believe 
it  is  the  duty  of  every  one  to  keep  his  body  in  good 
condition.  I  try  to  look  after  the  little  ills,  with 
the  idea  that  if  I  take  care  of  the  little  ills  the  big 
ones  will  not  come.  When  I  find  myself  unable 
to  sleep  well,  I  know  that  something  is  wrong.  If 
I  find  any  part  of  my  system  the  least  weak,  and 


THE   SUCCESS    IN    PUBLIC    SPEAKING     263 

not  performing  its  duty,  I  consult  a  good  physician. 
The  ability  to  sleep  well,  at  any  time  and  in  any 
place,  I  find  of  great  advantage.  I  have  so  trained 
myself  that  I  can  lie  down  for  a  nap  of  fifteen  or 
twenty  minutes,  and  get  up  refreshed  in  body  and 
mind. 

I  have  said  that  I  make  it  a  rule  to  finish  up  each 
day's  work  before  leaving  it.  There  is,  perhaps,  one 
exception  to  this.  When  I  have  an  unusually  diffi- 
cult question  to  decide  —  one  that  appeals  strongly 
to  the  emotions  —  I  find  it  a  safe  rule  to  sleep  over 
it  for  a  night,  or  to  wait  until  I  have  had  an  oppor- 
tunity to  talk  it  over  with  my  wife  and  friends. 

As  to  my  reading ;  the  most  time  I  get  for  solid 
reading  is  when  I  am  on  the  cars.  Newspapers  are 
to  me  a  constant  source  of  delight  and  recreation. 
The  only  trouble  is  that  I  read  too  many  of  them. 
Fiction  I  care  little  for.  Frequently  I  have  to  al- 
most force  myself  to  read  a  novel  that  is  on  every 
one's  lips.  The  kind  of  reading  that  I  have  the 
greatest  fondness  for  is  biography.  I  like  to  be 
sure  that  I  am  reading  about  a  real  man  or  a  real 
thing.  I  think  I  do  not  go  too  far  when  I  say  that 
I  have  read  nearly  every  book  and  magazine  article 
that  has  been  written  about  Abraham  Lincoln.  In 
literature  he  is  my  patron  saint. 

Out  of  the  twelve  months  in  a  year  I   suppose 


264  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

that,  on  an  average,  I  spend  six  months  away  from 
Tuskegee.  While  my  being  absent  from  the  school 
so  much  unquestionably  has  its  disadvantages,  yet 
there  are  at  the  same  time  some  compensations. 
The  change  of  work  brings  a  certain  kind  of  rest. 
I  enjoy  a  ride  of  a  long  distance  on  the  cars,  when  I 
am  permitted  to  ride  where  I  can  be  comfortable. 
I  get  rest  on  the  cars,  except  when  the  inevitable 
individual  who  seems  to  be  on  every  train  approaches 
me  with  the  now  familiar  phrase  :  "  Isn't  this  Booker 
Washington  ?  I  want  to  introduce  myself  to  you." 
Absence  from  the  school  enables  me  to  lose  sight 
of  the  unimportant  details  of  the  work,  and  study 
it  in  a  broader  and  more  comprehensive  manner 
than  I  could  do  on  the  grounds.  This  absence 
also  brings  me  into  contact  with  the  best  work  being 
done  in  educational  lines,  and  into  contact  with  the 
best  educators  in  the  land. 

But,  after  all  this  is  said,  the  time  when  I  get  the 
most  solid  rest  and  recreation  is  when  I  can  be  at 
Tuskegee,  and,  after  our  evening  meal  is  over,  can 
sit  down,  as  is  our  custom,  with  my  wife  and  Portia 
and  Baker  and  Davidson,  my  three  children,  and 
read  a  story,  or  each  take  turns  in  telling  a  story. 
To  me  there  is  nothing  on  earth  equal  to  that,  al- 
though what  is  nearly  equal  to  it  is  to  go  with  them 
for  an  hour  or  more,  as  we  like  to  do  on  Sunday 


THE   SUCCESS    IN   PUBLIC   SPEAKING     265 

afternoons,  into  the  woods,  where  we  can  live  for  a 
while  near  the  heart  of  nature,  where  no  one  can 
disturb  or  vex  us,  surrounded  by  pure  air,  the  trees, 
the  shrubbery,  the  flowers,  and  the  sweet  fragrance 
that  springs  from  a  hundred  plants,  enjoying  the 
chirp  of  the  crickets  and  the  songs  of  the  birds. 
This  is  solid  rest. 

My  garden,  also,  what  little  time  I  can  be  at 
Tuskegee,  is  another  source  of  rest  and  enjoyment. 
Somehow  I  like,  as  often  as  possible,  to  touch  na- 
ture, not  something  that  is  artificial  or  an  imitation, 
but  the  real  thing.  When  I  can  leave  my  office  in 
time  so  that  I  can  spend  thirty  or  forty  minutes  in 
spading  the  ground,  in  planting  seeds,  in  digging 
about  the  plants,  I  feel  that  I  am  coming  into  con- 
tact with  something  that  is  giving  me  strength  for 
the  many  duties  and  hard  places  that  await  me  out 
in  the  big  world.  I  pity  the  man  or  woman  who 
has  never  learned  to  enjoy  nature  and  to  get  strength 
and  inspiration  out  of  it. 

Aside  from  the  large  number  of  fowls  and  ani- 
mals kept  by  the  school,  I  keep  individually  a  num- 
ber of  pigs  and  fowls  of  the  best  grades,  and  in 
raising  these  I  take  a  great  deal  of  pleasure.  I 
think  the  pig  is  my  favourite  animal.  Few  things 
are  more  satisfactory  to  me  than  a  high-grade  Berk- 
shire or  Poland  China  pig. 


266  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

Games  I  care  little  for.  I  have  never  seen  a 
game  of  football.  In  cards  I  do  not  know  one 
card  from  another.  A  game  of  old-fashioned  mar- 
bles with  my  two  boys,  once  in  a  while,  is  all  I  care 
for  in  this  direction.  I  suppose  I  would  care  for 
games  now  if  I  had  had  any  time  in  my  youth  to 
give  to  them,  but  that  was  not  possible. 


CHAPTER   XVI 

Europe 

IN  1893  I  was  married  to  Miss  Margaret  James 
Murray,  a  native  of  Mississippi,  and  a  gradu- 
ate of  Fisk  University,  in  Nashville,  Tenn., 
who  had  come  to  Tuskegee  as  a  teacher  several 
years  before,  and  at  the  time  we  were  married  was 
filling  the  position  of  Lady  Principal.  Not  only  is 
Mrs.  Washington  completely  one  with  me  in  the 
work  directly  connected  with  the  school,  relieving 
me  of  many  burdens  and  perplexities,  but  aside 
from  her  work  on  the  school  grounds,  she  carries 
on  a  mothers'  meeting  in  the  town  of  Tuskegee, 
and  a  plantation  work  among  the  women,  children, 
and  men  who  live  in  a  settlement  connected  with  a 
large  plantation  about  eight  miles  from  Tuskegee. 
Both  the  mothers'  meeting  and  the  plantation  work 
are  carried  on,  not  only  with  a  view  to  helping 
those  who  are  directly  reached,  but  also  for  the 
purpose  of  furnishing  object-lessons  in  these  two 
kinds    of    work    that    may    be    followed     by    our 

267 


268  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

students  when  they  go  out  into  the  world  for  their 
own  life-work. 

Aside  from  these  two  enterprises,  Mrs.  Washing- 
ton is  also  largely  responsible  for  a  woman's  club  at 
the  school  which  brings  together,  twice  a  month, 
the  women  who  live  on  the  school  grounds  and 
those  who  live  near,  for  the  discussion  of  some 
important  topic.  She  is  also  the  President  of  what 
is  known  as  the  Federation  of  Southern  Coloured 
Women's  Clubs,  and  is  Chairman  of  the  Execu- 
tive Committee  of  the  National  Federation  of  Col- 
oured Women's  Clubs. 

Portia,  the  oldest  of  my  three  children,  has 
learned  dressmaking.  She  has  unusual  ability  in 
instrumental  music.  Aside  from  her  studies  at 
Tuskegee,  she  has  already  begun  to  teach  there. 

Baker  Taliaferro  is  my  next  oldest  child.  Young 
as  he  is,  he  has  already  nearly  mastered  the  brick- 
mason's  trade.  He  began  working  at  this  trade 
when  he  was  quite  small,  dividing  his  time  between 
this  and  class  work ;  and  he  has  developed  great 
skill  in  the  trade  and  a  fondness  for  it.  He  says 
that  he  is  going  to  be  an  architect  and  brickmason. 
One  of  the  most  satisfactory  letters  that  I  have  ever 
received  from  any  one  came  to  me  from  Baker  last 
summer.  When  I  left  home  for  the  summer,  I  told 
him  that  he  must  work  at  his  trade  half  of  each  day, 


EUROPE  269 

and  that  the  other  half  of  the  day  he  could  spend 
as  he  pleased.  When  I  had  been  away  from  home 
two  weeks,  I  received  the  following  letter  from  him: 

Tuskegee,   Alabama. 

My  dear  Papa  :   Before  you  left  home  you  told  me  to 

work  at   my  trade  half  of  each  day.      I   like  my  work  so 

much  that  I  want  to  work  at  my  trade  all  day.      Besides,  I 

want  to  earn  all  the   money  I  can,  so  that  when  I  go  to 

another  school  I  shall  have  money  to  pay  my  expenses. 

Your  son, 

Baker. 

My  youngest  child,  Ernest  Davidson  Washing- 
ton, says  that  he  is  going  to  be  a  physician.  In 
addition  to  going  to  school,  where  he  studies  books 
and  has  manual  training,  he  regularly  spends  a 
portion  of  his  time  in  the  office  of  our  resident 
physician,  and  has  already  learned  to  do  many  of 
the  duties  which  pertain  to  a  doctor's  office. 

The  thing  in  my  life  which  brings  me  the  keenest 
regret  is  that  my  work  in  connection  with  public 
affairs  keeps  me  for  so  much  of  the  time  away  from 
my  family,  where,  of  all  places  in  the  world,  I  de- 
light to  be.  I  always  envy  the  individual  whose 
life-work  is  so  laid  that  he  can  spend  his  evenings 
at  home.  I  have  sometimes  thought  that  people 
who  have  this  rare  privilege  do  not  appreciate  it  as 


270  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

they  should.  It  is  such  a  rest  and  relief  to  get 
away  from  crowds  of  people,  and  handshaking,  and 
travelling,  and  get  home,  even  if  it  be  for  but  a  very 
brief  while. 

Another  thing  at  Tuskegee  out  of  which  I  get 
a  great  deal  of  pleasure  and  satisfaction  is  in  the 
meeting  with  our  students,  and  teachers,  and  their 
families,  in  the  chapel  for  devotional  exercises  every 
evening  at  half-past  eight,  the  last  thing  before 
retiring  for  the  night.  It  is  an  inspiring  sight  when 
one  stands  on  the  platform  there  and  sees  before 
him  eleven  or  twelve  hundred  earnest  young  men 
and  women ;  and  one  cannot  but  feel  that  it  is  a 
privilege  to  help  to  guide  them  to  a  higher  and 
more  useful  life. 

In  the  spring  of  1899  there  came  to  me  what  I 
might  describe  as  almost  the  greatest  surprise  of 
my  life.  Some  good  ladies  in  Boston  arranged  a 
public  meeting  in  the  interests  of  Tuskegee,  to  be 
held  in  the  Hollis  Street  Theatre.  This  meeting 
was  attended  by  large  numbers  of  the  best  people  of 
Boston,  of  both  races.  Bishop  Lawrence  presided. 
In  addition  to  an  address  made  by  myself,  Mr. 
Paul  Lawrence  Dunbar  read  from  his  poems,  and 
Dr.  W.  E.  B.  Du  Bois  read  an  original  sketch. 

Some  of  those  who  attended  this  meeting  noticed 
that  I  seemed  unusually  tired,  and  some  little  time 


EUROPE  271 

after  the  close  of  the  meeting,  one  of  the  ladies  who 
had  been  interested  in  it  asked  me  in  a  casual  way 
if  I  had  ever  been  to  Europe.  I  replied  that  I 
never  had.  She  asked  me  if  I  had  ever  thought 
of  going,  and  I  told  her  no  ;  that  it  was  something 
entirely  beyond  me.  This  conversation  soon  passed 
out  of  my  mind,  but  a  few  days  afterward  I  was 
informed  that  some  friends  in  Boston,  including 
Mr.  Francis  J.  Garrison,  had  raised  a  sum  of  money 
sufficient  to  pay  all  the  expenses  of  Mrs.  Washing- 
ton and  myself  during  a  three  or  four  months'  trip 
to  Europe.  It  was  added  with  emphasis  that  we 
must  go.  A  year  previous  to  this  Mr.  Garrison 
had  attempted  to  get  me  to  promise  to  go  to 
Europe  for  a  summer's  rest,  with  the  understanding 
that  he  would  be  responsible  for  raising  the  money 
among  his  friends  for  the  expenses  of  the  trip.  At 
that  time  such  a  journey  seemed  so  entirely  foreign 
to  anything  that  I  should  ever  be  able  to  undertake 
that  I  confess  I  did  not  give  the  matter  very  seri- 
ous attention ;  but  later  Mr.  Garrison  joined  his 
efforts  to  those  of  the  ladies  whom  I  have  men- 
tioned, and  when  their  plans  were  made  known  to 
me  Mr.  Garrison  not  only  had  the  route  mapped 
out,  but  had,  I  believe,  selected  the  steamer  upon 
which  we  were  to  sail. 

The  whole  thing  was   so   sudden    and  so  unex- 


272  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

pected  that  I  was  completely  taken  off  my  feet. 
I  had  been  at  work  steadily  for  eighteen  years  in 
connection  with  Tuskegee,  and  I  had  never  thought 
of  anything  else  but  ending  my  life  in  that  way. 
Each  day  the  school  seemed  to  depend  upon  me 
more  largely  for  its  daily  expenses,  and  I  told  these 
Boston  friends  that,  while  I  thanked  them  sincerely 
for  their  thoughtfulness  and  generosity,  I  could 
not  go  to  Europe,  for  the  reason  that  the  school 
could  not  live  financially  while  I  was  absent.  They 
then  informed  me  that  Mr.  Henry  L.  Higginson, 
and  some  other  good  friends  who  I  know  do  not 
want  their  names  made  public,  were  then  raising  a 
sum  of  money  which  would  be  sufficient  to  keep 
the  school  in  operation  while  I  was  away.  At  this 
point  I  was  compelled  to  surrender.  Every  avenue 
of  escape  had  been  closed. 

Deep  down  in  my  heart  the  whole  thing  seemed 
more  like  a  dream  than  like  reality,  and  for  a  long 
time  it  was  difficult  for  me  to  make  myself  believe 
that  I  was  actually  going  to  Europe.  I  had  been 
born  and  largely  reared  in  the  lowest  depths  of 
slavery,  ignorance,  and  poverty.  In  my  childhood 
I  had  suffered  for  want  of  a  place  to  sleep,  for  lack 
of  food,  clothing,  and  shelter.  I  had  not  had  the 
privilege  of  sitting  down  to  a  dining-table  until  I  was 
quite  well  grown.      Luxuries  had  always  seemed  to 


EUROPE  273 

me  to  be  something  meant  for  white  people,  not  for 
my  race.  I  had  always  regarded  Europe,  and  Lon- 
don, and  Paris,  much  as  I  regard  heaven.  And  now 
could  it  be  that  I  was  actually  going  to  Europe? 
Such  thoughts  as  these  were  constantly  with  me. 

Two  other  thoughts  troubled  me  a  good  deal. 
I  feared  that  people  who  heard  that  Mrs.  Washing- 
ton and  I  were  going  to  Europe  might  not  know 
all  the  circumstances,  and  might  get  the  idea  that 
we  had  become,  as  some  might  say,  "  stuck  up," 
and  were  trying  to  "show  off."  I  recalled  that  from 
my  youth  I  had  heard  it  said  that  too  often,  when 
people  of  my  race  reached  any  degree  of  success, 
they  were  inclined  to  unduly  exalt  themselves  ;  to 
try  and  ape  the  wealthy,  and  in  so  doing  to  lose 
their  heads.  The  fear  that  people  might  think 
this  of  us  haunted  me  a  good  deal.  Then,  too, 
I  could  not  see  how  my  conscience  would  permit 
me  to  spare  the  time  from  my  work  and  be  happy. 
It  seemed  mean  and  selfish  in  me  to  be  taking  a 
vacation  while  others  were  at  work,  and  while  there 
was  so  much  that  needed  to  be  done.  From  the 
time  I  could  remember,  I  had  always  been  at  work, 
and  I  did  not  see  how  I  could  spend  three  or  four 
months  in  doing  nothing.  The  fact  was  that  I  did 
not  know  how  to  take  a  vacation. 

Mrs.  Washington  had  much  the  same  difficulty 


274  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

in  getting  away,  but  she  was  anxious  to  go  because 
she  thought  that  I  needed  the  rest.  There  were 
many  important  National  questions  bearing  upon 
the  life  of  the  race  which  were  being  agitated  at  that 
time,  and  this  made  it  all  the  harder  for  us  to  decide 
to  go.  We  finally  gave  our  Boston  friends  our 
promise  that  we  would  go,  and  then  they  insisted 
that  the  date  of  our  departure  be  set  as  soon  as 
possible.  So  we  decided  upon  May  10.  My 
good  friend  Mr.  Garrison  kindly  took  charge  of 
all  the  details  necessary  for  the  success  of  the  trip, 
and  he,  as  well  as  other  friends,  gave  us  a  great 
number  of  letters  of  introduction  to  people  in 
France  and  England,  and  made  other  arrange- 
ments for  our  comfort  and  convenience  abroad. 
Good-bys  were  said  at  Tuskegee,  and  we  were  in 
New  York  May  9,  ready  to  sail  the  next  day.  Our 
daughter  Portia,  who  was  then  studying  in  South 
Framingham,  Mass.,  came  to  New  York  to  see  us 
off.  Mr.  Scott,  my  secretary,  came  with  me  to 
New  York,  in  order  that  I  might  clear  up  the  last 
bit  of  business  before  I  left.  Other  friends  also 
came  to  New  York  to  see  us  off.  Just  before  we 
went  on  board  the  steamer  another  pleasant  sur- 
prise came  to  us  in  the  form  of  a  letter  from  two 
generous  ladies,  stating  that  they  had  decided  to 
give  us  the  money  with  which  to  erect  a  new  build- 


EUROPE  275 

ing  to  be   used   in  properly  housing  all  our  indus- 
tries for  girls  at  Tuskegee. 

We  were  to  sail  on  the  Friesland,  of  the  Red 
Star  Line,  and  a  beautiful  vessel  she  was.  We 
went  on  board  just  before  noon,  the  hour  of  sail- 
ing. I  had  never  before  been  on  board  a  large 
ocean  steamer,  and  the  feeling  which  took  posses- 
sion of  me  when  I  found  myself  there  is  rather 
hard  to  describe.  It  was  a  feeling,  I  think,  of 
awe  mingled  with  delight.  We  were  agreeably 
surprised  to  find  that  the  captain,  as  well  as  several 
of  the  other  officers,  not  only  knew  who  we  were, 
but  was  expecting  us  and  gave  us  a  pleasant  greet- 
ing. There  were  several  passengers  whom  we 
knew,  including  Senator  Sewell,  of  New  Jersey,  and 
Edward  Marshall,  the  newspaper  correspondent. 
I  had  just  a  little  fear  that  we  would  not  be  treated 
civilly  by  some  of  the  passengers.  This  fear  was 
based  upon  what  I  had  heard  other  people  of  my 
race,  who  had  crossed  the  ocean,  say  about  un- 
pleasant experiences  in  crossing  the  ocean  in  Ameri- 
can vessels.  But  in  our  case,  from  the  captain 
down  to  the  most  humble  servant,  we  were  treated 
with  the  greatest  kindness.  Nor  was  this  kindness 
confined  to  those  who  were  connected  with  the 
steamer;  it  was  shown  by  all  the  passengers  also. 
There  were   not  a  few  Southern  men  and  women 


276  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

on  board,  and  they  were  as  cordial  as  those  from 
other  parts  of  the  country. 

As  soon  as  the  last  good-bys  were  said,  and 
the  steamer  had  cut  loose  from  the  wharf,  the  load 
of  care,  anxiety,  and  responsibility  which  I  had 
carried  for  eighteen  years  began  to  lift  itself  from 
my  shoulders  at  the  rate,  it  seemed  to  me,  of  a 
pound  a  minute.  It  was  the  first  time  in  all  those 
years  that  I  had  felt,  even  in  a  measure,  free  from 
care ;  and  my  feeling  of  relief  it  is  hard  to  describe 
on  paper.  Added  to  this  was  the  delightful  antici- 
pation of  being  in  Europe  soon.  It  all  seeme°d 
more  like  a  dream  than  like  a  reality. 

Mr.  Garrison  had  thoughtfully  arranged  to  have 
us  have  one  of  the  most  comfortable  rooms  on  the 
ship.  The  second  or  third  day  out  I  began  to 
sleep,  and  I  think  that  I  slept  at  the  rate  of  fifteen 
hours  a  day  during  the  remainder  of  the  ten  days' 
passage.  Then  it  was  that  I  began  to  understand 
how  tired  I  really  was.  These  long  sleeps  I  kept 
up  for  a  month  after  we  landed  on  the  other  side. 
It  was  such  an  unusual  feeling  to  wake  up  in  the 
morning  and  realize  that  I  had  no  engagements ; 
did  not  have  to  take  a  train  at  a  certain  hour ; 
did  not  have  an  appointment  to  meet  some  one, 
or  to  make  an  address,  at  a  certain  hour.  How 
different  all  this  was  from  some  of  the  experiences 


EUROPE  277 

that  I  have  been  through  when  travelling,  when  I 
have  sometimes  slept  in  three  different  beds  in 
a  single  night ! 

When  Sunday  came,  the  captain  invited  me  to 
conduct  the  religious  services,  but,  not  being  a 
minister,  I  declined.  The  passengers,  however, 
began  making  requests  that  I  deliver  an  address 
to  them  in  the  dining-saloon  some  time  during 
the  voyage,  and  this  I  consented  to  do.  Senator 
Sewell  presided  at  this  meeting.  After  ten  days 
of  delightful  weather,  during  which  I  was  not  sea- 
sick for  a  day,  we  landed  at  the  interesting  old  city 
of  Antwerp,  in  Belgium. 

The  next  day  after  we  landed  happened  to  be  one  of 
those  numberless  holidays  which  the  people  of  those 
countries  are  in  the  habit  of  observing.  It  was  a 
bright,  beautiful  day.  Our  room  in  the  hotel  faced 
the  main  public  square,  and  the  sights  there  —  the 
people  coming  in  from  the  country  with  all  kinds 
of  beautiful  flowers  to  sell,  the  women  coming  in 
with  their  dogs  drawing  large,  brightly  polished  cans 
filled  with  milk,  the  people  streaming  into  the 
cathedral  —  filled  me  with  a  sense  of  newness  that 
I  had  never  before  experienced. 

After  spending  some  time  in  Antwerp,  we  were 
invited  to  go  with  a  party  of  a  half-dozen  persons 
on  a  trip  through   Holland.     This  party  included 


278  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

Edward  Marshall  and  some  American  artists  who 
had  come  over  on  the  same  steamer  with  us.  We 
accepted  the  invitation,  and  enjoyed  the  trip  greatly. 
I  think  it  was  all  the  more  interesting  and  instruc- 
tive because  we  went  for  most  of  the  way  on  one  of 
the  slow,  old-fashioned  canal-boats.  This  gave  us 
an  opportunity  of  seeing  and  studying  the  real  life 
of  the  people  in  the  country  districts.  We  went  in 
this  way  as  far  as  Rotterdam,  and  later  went  to  The 
Hague,  where  the  Peace  Conference  was  then  in 
session,  and  where  we  were  kindly  received  by  the 
American  representatives. 

The  thing  that  impressed  itself  most  on  me  in 
Holland  was  the  thoroughness  of  the  agriculture  and 
the  excellence  of  the  Holstein  cattle.  I  never 
knew,  before  visiting  Holland,  how  much  it  was 
possible  for  people  to  get  out  of  a  small  plot  of 
ground.  It  seemed  to  me  that  absolutely  no  land 
was  wasted.  It  was  worth  a  trip  to  Holland,  too, 
just  to  get  a  sight  of  three  or  four  hundred  fine 
Holstein  cows  grazing  in  one  of  those  intensely 
green  fields. 

From  Holland  we  went  to  Belgium,  and  made  a 
hasty  trip  through  that  country,  stopping  at  Brus- 
sels, where  we  visited  the  battlefield  of  Waterloo. 
From  Belgium  we  went  direct  to  Paris,  where  we 
found  that  Mr.  Theodore  Stanton,  the  son  of  Mrs. 


EUROPE  279 

Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton,  had  kindly  provided  ac- 
commodations for  us.  We  had  barely  got  settled 
in  Paris  before  an  invitation  came  to  me  from  the 
University  Club  of  Paris  to  be  its  guest  at  a  ban- 
quet which  was  soon  to  be  given.  The  other  guests 
were  ex-President  Benjamin  Harrison  and  Arch- 
bishop Ireland,  who  were  in  Paris  at  the  time. 
The  American  Ambassador,  General  Horace  Por- 
ter, presided  at  the  banquet.  My  address  on  this 
occasion  seemed  to  give  satisfaction  to  those  who 
heard  it.  General  Harrison  kindly  devoted  a 
large  portion  of  his  remarks  at  dinner  to  myself 
and  to  the  influence  of  the  work  at  Tuskegee  on 
the  American  race  question.  After  my  address  at 
this  banquet  other  invitations  came  to  me,  but  I 
declined  the  most  of  them,  knowing  that  if  I 
accepted  them  all,  the  object  of  my  visit  would  be 
defeated.  I  did,  however,  consent  to  deliver  an 
address  in  the  American  chapel  the  following  Sun- 
day morning,  and  at  this  meeting  General  Harrison, 
General  Porter,  and  other  distinguished  Americans 
were  present. 

Later  we  received  a  formal  call  from  the  Ameri- 
can Ambassador,  and  were  invited  to  attend  a 
reception  at  his  residence.  At  this  reception  we 
met  many  Americans,  among  them  Justices  Fuller 
and  Harlan,  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court. 


28o  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

During  our  entire  stay  of  a  month  in  Paris,  both 
the  American  Ambassador  and  his  wife,  as  well  as 
several  other  Americans,  were  very  kind  to  us. 

While  in  Paris  we  saw  a  good  deal  of  the  now 
rather  famous  American  Negro  painter,  Mr.  Henry 
O.  Tanner,  whom  we  had  formerly  known  in 
America.  It  was  very  satisfactory  to  rind  how  well 
known  Mr.  Tanner  was  in  the  field  of  art,  and  to 
note  the  high  standing  which  all  classes  accorded  to 
him.  When  we  told  some  Americans  that  we  were 
going  to  the  Luxembourg  Palace  to  see  a  painting 
by  an  American  Negro,  it  was  hard  to  convince 
them  that  a  Negro  had  been  thus  honoured.  I  do 
not  believe  that  they  were  really  convinced  of  the 
fact  until  they  saw  the  picture  for  themselves.  My 
acquaintance  with  Mr.  Tanner  reenforced  in  my 
mind  the  truth  which  I  am  constantly  trying  to 
impress  upon  our  students  at  Tuskegee  —  and  on  our 
people  throughout  the  country,  as  far  as  I  can  reach 
them  with  my  voice  —  that  any  man,  regardless  of 
colour,  will  be  recognized  and  rewarded  just  in  pro- 
portion as  he  learns  to  do  something  well  —  learns 
to  do  it  better  than  some  one  else  —  however  hum- 
ble the  thing  may  be.  As  I  have  said,  I  believe 
that  my  race  will  succeed  in  proportion  as  it  learns 
to  do  a  common  thing  in  an  uncommon  manner; 
learns  to  do  a  thing  so  thoroughly  that  no  one  can- 


EUROPE  281 

improve  upon  what  it  has  done ;  learns  to  make 
its  services  of  indispensable  value.  This  was  the 
spirit  that  inspired  me  in  my  first  effort  at  Hampton, 
when  I  was  given  the  opportunity  to  sweep  and  dust 
that  schoolroom.  In  a  degree  I  felt  that  my  whole 
future  life  depended  upon  the  thoroughness  with 
which  I  cleaned  that  room,  and  I  was  determined 
to  do  it  so  well  that  no  one  could  find  any  fault 
with  the  job.  Few  people  ever  stopped,  I  found, 
when  looking  at  his  pictures,  to  inquire  whether  Mr. 
Tanner  was  a  Negro  painter,  a  French  painter,  or  a 
German  painter.  They  simply  knew  that  he  was 
able  to  produce  something  which  the  world  wanted 
—  a  great  painting — and  the  matter  of  his  colour 
did  not  enter  into  their  minds.  When  a  Negro 
girl  learns  to  cook,  to  wash  dishes,  to  sew,  to  write 
a  book,  or  a  Negro  boy  learns  to  groom  horses,  or 
to  grow  sweet  potatoes,  or  to  produce  butter,  or  to 
build  a  house,  or  to  be  able  to  practise  medicine,  as 
well  or  better  than  some  one  else,  they  will  be  re- 
warded regardless  of  race  or  colour.  In  the  long 
run,  the  world  is  going  to  have  the  best,  and  any 
difference  in  race,  religion,  or  previous  history  will 
not  long  keep  the  world  from  what  it  wants. 

I  think  that  the  whole  future  of  my  race  hinges 
on  the  question  as  to  whether  or  not  it  can  make 
itself  of  such  indispensable  value  that  the  people  in 


282  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

the  town  and  the  state  where  we  reside  will  feel 
that  our  presence  is  necessary  to  the  happiness  and 
well-being  of  the  community.  No  man  who  con- 
tinues to  add  something  to  the  material,  intellectual, 
and  moral  well-being  of  the  place  in  which  he  lives 
is  long  left  without  proper  reward.  This  is  a  great 
human  law  which  cannot  be  permanently  nullified. 

The  love  of  pleasure  and  excitement  which  seems 
in  a  large  measure  to  possess  the  French  people  im- 
pressed itself  upon  me.  I  think  they  are  more 
noted  in  this  respect  than  is  true  of  the  people 
of  my  own  race.  In  point  of  morality  and  moral 
earnestness  I  do  not  believe  that  the  French  are 
ahead  of  my  own  race  in  America.  Severe  com- 
petition and  the  great  stress  of  life  have  led  them 
to  learn  to  do  things  more  thoroughly  and  to  exer- 
cise greater  economy  ;  but  time,  I  think,  will  bring 
my  race  to  the  same  point.  In  the  matter  of  truth 
and  high  honour  I  do  not  believe  that  the  average 
Frenchman  is  ahead  of  the  American  Negro ;  while 
so  far  as  mercy  and  kindness  to  dumb  animals  go, 
I  believe  that  my  race  is  far  ahead.  In  fact,  when 
I  left  France,  I  had  more  faith  in  the  future  of  the 
black  man  in  America  than  I  had  ever  possessed. 

From  Paris  we  went  to  London,  and  reached 
there  early  in  July,  just  about  the  height  of  the 
London  social  season.     Parliament  was  in  session, 


EUROPE  283 

and  there  was  a  great  deal  of  gaiety.  Mr.  Garri- 
son and  other  friends  had  provided  us  with  a  large 
number  of  letters  of  introduction,  and  they  had 
also  sent  letters  to  other  persons  in  different  parts 
of  the  United  Kingdom,  apprising  these  people  of 
our  coming.  Very  soon  after  reaching  London  we 
were  flooded  with  invitations  to  attend  all  manner 
of  social  functions,  and  a  great  many  invitations 
came  to  me  asking  that  I  deliver  public  addresses. 
The  most  of  these  invitations  I  declined,  for  the 
reason  that  I  wanted  to  rest.  Neither  were  we  able 
to  accept  more  than  a  small  proportion  of  the  other 
invitations.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Brooke  Herford  and 
Mrs.  Herford,  whom  I  had  known  in  Boston,  con- 
sulted with  the  American  Ambassador,  the  Hon. 
Joseph  Choate,  and  arranged  for  me  to  speak  at 
a  public  meeting  to  be  held  in  Essex  Hall.  Mr. 
Choate  kindly  consented  to  preside.  The  meeting 
was  largely  attended.  There  were  many  distin- 
guished persons  present,  among  them  several  mem- 
bers of  Parliament,  including  Mr.  James  Bryce,  who 
spoke  at  the  meeting.  What  the  American  Ambas- 
sador said  in  introducing  me,  as  well  as  a  synopsis 
of  what  I  said,  was  widely  published  in  England  and 
in  the  American  papers  at  the  time.  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Herford  gave  Mrs.  Washington  and  myself  a  recep- 
tion, at  which  we  had  the  privilege  of  meeting  some 


284  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

of  the  best  people  in  England.  Throughout  our 
stay  in  London  Ambassador  Choate  was  most  kind 
and  attentive  to  us.  At  the  Ambassador's  reception 
I  met,  for  the  first  time,  Mark  Twain. 

We  were  the  guests  several  times  of  Mrs.  T. 
Fisher  Unwin,  the  daughter  of  the  English  states- 
man, Richard  Cobden.  It  seemed  as  if  both  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Unwin  could  not  do  enough  for  our  com- 
fort and  happiness.  Later,  for  nearly  a  week,  we 
were  the  guests  of  the  daughter  of  John  Bright, 
now  Mrs.  Clark,  of  Street,  England.  Both  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Clark,  with  their  daughter,  visited  us  at 
Tuskegee  the  next  year.  In  Birmingham,  Eng- 
land, we  were  the  guests  for  several  days  of  Mr. 
Joseph  Sturge,  whose  father  was  a  great  abolitionist 
and  friend  of  Whittier  and  Garrison.  It  was  a 
great  privilege  to  meet  throughout  England  those 
who  had  known  and  honoured  the  late  William 
Lloyd  Garrison,  the  Hon.  Frederick  Douglass, 
and  other  abolitionists.  The  English  abolitionists 
with  whom  we  came  in  contact  never  seemed  to 
tire  of  talking  about  these  two  Americans.  Before 
going  to  England  I  had  had  no  proper  conception 
of  the  deep  interest  displayed  by  the  abolitionists  of 
England  in  the  cause  of  freedom,  nor  did  I  realize 
the  amount  of  substantial  help  given  by  them. 

In  Bristol,  England,  both  Mrs.  Washington  and 


EUROPE  285 

I  spoke  at  the  Women's  Liberal  Club.  I  was  also 
the  principal  speaker  at  the  Commencement  exer- 
cises of  the  Royal  College  for  the  Blind.  These 
exercises  were  held  in  the  Crystal  Palace,  and  the 
presiding  officer  was  the  late  Duke  of  Westminster, 
who  was  said  to  be,  I  believe,  the  richest  man  in 
England,  if  not  in  the  world.  The  Duke,  as 
well  as  his  wife  and  their  daughter,  seemed  to  be 
pleased  with  what  I  said,  and  thanked  me  heartily. 
Through  the  kindness  of  Lady  Aberdeen,  my  wife 
and  I  were  enabled  to  go  with  a  party  of  those 
who  were  attending  the  International  Congress  of 
Women,  then  in  session  in  London,  to  see  Oueen 
Victoria,  at  Windsor  Castle,  where,  afterward,  we 
were  all  the  guests  of  her  Majesty  at  tea.  In  our 
party  was  Miss  Susan  B.  Anthony,  and  I  was 
deeply  impressed  with  the  fact  that  one  did  not 
often  get  an  opportunity  to  see,  during  the  same 
hour,  two  women  so  remarkable  in  different  ways 
as  Susan  B.  Anthony  and  Queen  Victoria. 

In  the  House  of  Commons,  which  we  visited 
several  times,  we  met  Sir  Henry  M.  Stanley.  I 
talked  with  him  about  Africa  and  its  relation  to  the 
American  Negro,  and  after  my  interview  with  him 
I  became  more  convinced  than  ever  that  there  was 
no  hope  of  the  American  Negro's  improving  his 
condition  by  emigrating  to  Africa. 


286  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

On  various  occasions  Mrs.  Washington  and  I 
were  the  guests  of  Englishmen  in  their  country 
homes,  where,  I  think,  one  sees  the  Englishman  at 
his  best.  In  one  thing,  at  least,  I  feel  sure  that  the 
English  are  ahead  of  Americans,  and  that  is,  that 
they  have  learned  how  to  get  more  out  of  life. 
The  home  life  of  the  English  seems  to  me  to  be 
about  as  perfect  as  anything  can  be.  Everything 
moves  like  clockwork.  I  was  impressed,  too,  with 
the  deference  that  the  servants  show  to  their  "  mas- 
ters "  and  "mistresses,"  —  terms  which  I  suppose 
would  not  be  tolerated  in  America.  The  English 
servant  expects,  as  a  rule,  to  be  nothing  but  a  ser- 
vant, and  so  he  perfects  himself  in  the  art  to  a 
degree  that  no  class  of  servants  in  America  has  yet 
reached.  In  our  country  the  servant  expects  to 
become,  in  a  few  years,  a  "  master "  himself. 
Which  system  is  preferable  ?  I  will  not  venture 
an  answer. 

Another  thing  that  impressed  itself  upon  me 
throughout  England  was  the  high  regard  that  all 
classes  have  for  law  and  order,  and  the  ease  and 
thoroughness  with  which  everything  is  done.  The 
Englishmen,  I  found,  took  plenty  of  time  for  eat- 
ing, as  for  everything  else.  I  am  not  sure  if,  in  the 
long  run,  they  do  not  accomplish  as  much  or  more 
than  rushing,  nervous  Americans  do. 


EUROPE  287 

My  visit  to  England  gave  me  a  higher  regard  for 
the  nobility  than  I  had  had.  I  had  no  idea  that 
they  were  so  generally  loved  and  respected  by  the 
masses,  nor  had  I  any  correct  conception  of  how 
much  time  and  money  they  spent  in  works  of 
philanthropy,  and  how  much  real  heart  they  put 
into  this  work.  My  impression  had  been  that 
they  merely  spent  money  freely  and  had  a  "  good 
time." 

It  was  hard  for  me  to  get  accustomed  to  speak- 
ing to  English  audiences.  The  average  English- 
man is  so  serious,  and  is  so  tremendously  in  earnest 
about  everything,  that  when  I  told  a  story  that 
would  have  made  an  American  audience  roar  with 
laughter,  the  Englishmen  simply  looked  me  straight 
in  the  face  without  even  cracking  a  smile. 

When  the  Englishman  takes  you  into  his  heart 
and  friendship,  he  binds  you  there  as  with  cords  of 
steel,  and  I  do  not  believe  that  there  are  many  other 
friendships  that  are  so  lasting  or  so  satisfactory. 
Perhaps  I  can  illustrate  this  point  in  no  better 
way  than  by  relating  the  following  incident.  Mrs. 
Washington  and  I  were  invited  to  attend  a  recep- 
tion given  by  the  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Sutherland, 
at  Stafford  House  —  said  to  be  the  finest  house  in 
London  ;  I  may  add  that  I  believe  the  Duchess  of 
Sutherland  is  said  to  be  the  most  beautiful  woman 


288  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

in  England.  There  must  have  been  at  least  three 
hundred  persons  at  this  reception.  Twice  during 
the  evening  the  Duchess  sought  us  out  for  a  con- 
versation, and  she  asked  me  to  write  her  when  we 
got  home,  and  tell  her  more  about  the  work  at 
Tuskegee.  This  I  did.  When  Christmas  came 
we  were  surprised  and  delighted  to  receive  her 
photograph  with  her  autograph  on  it.  The  corre- 
spondence has  continued,  and  we  now  feel  that  in 
the  Duchess  of  Sutherland  we  have  one  of  our 
warmest  friends. 

After  three  months  in  Europe  we  sailed  from 
Southampton  in  the  steamship  St.  Louis.  On  this 
steamer  there  was  a  fine  library  that  had  been  pre- 
sented to  the  ship  by  the  citizens  of  St.  Louis, 
Mo.  In  this  library  I  found  a  life  of  Freder- 
ick Douglass,  which  I  began  reading.  I  became 
especially  interested  in  Mr.  Douglass's  description 
of  the  way  he  was  treated  on  shipboard  during  his 
first  or  second  visit  to  England.  In  this  descrip- 
tion he  told  how  he  was  not  permitted  to  enter  the 
cabin,  but  had  to  confine  himself  to  the  deck  of  the 
ship.  A  few  minutes  after  I  had  finished  reading 
this  description  I  was  waited  on  by  a  committee  of 
ladies  and  gentlemen  with  the  request  that  I  deliver 
an  address  at  a  concert  which  was  to  be  given  the 
following  evening.     And  yet  there  are  people  who 


EUROPE  289 

are  bold  enough  to  say  that  race  feeling  in  America 
is  not  growing  less  intense!  At  this  concert  the 
Hon.  Benjamin  B.  Odell,  Jr.,  the  present  governor 
of  New  York,  presided.  I  was  never  given  a  more 
cordial  hearing  anywhere.  A  large  proportion  of  the 
passengers  were  Southern  people.  After  the  concert 
some  of  the  passengers  proposed  that  a  subscription 
be  raised  to  help  the  work  at  Tuskegee,  and  the 
money  to  support  several  scholarships  was  the  result. 
While  we  were  in  Paris  I  was  very  pleasantly 
surprised  to  receive  the  following  invitation  from 
the  citizens  of  West  Virginia  and  of  the  city  near 
which  I  had  spent  my  boyhood  days  :  — 

Charleston,  W.  Va.,  May  16,  1899. 
Professor  Booker  T.  Washington,  Paris,  France  : 

Dear  Sir  :  Many  of  the  best  citizens  of  West  Vir- 
ginia have  united  in  liberal  expressions  of  admiration  and 
praise  of  your  worth  and  work,  and  desire  that  on  your 
return  from  Europe  you  should  favour  them  with  your  pres- 
ence and  with  the  inspiration  of  your  words.  We  most 
sincerely  indorse  this  move,  and  on  behalf  of  the  citizens 
of  Charleston  extend  to  you  our  most  cordial  invitation  to 
have  you  come  to  us,  that  we  may  honour  you  who  have 
done  so  much  by  your  life  and  work  to  honour  us. 
We  are,  Very  truly  yours, 

The  Common  Council  of  the  City  of    Charleston, 
By  W.  Herman  Smith,  Mayor. 


290  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

This  invitation  from  the  City  Council  of  Charleston 
was  accompanied  by  the  following  :  — 

Professor  Booker  T.  Washington,  Paris,  France  : 

Dear  Sir  :  We,  the  citizens  of  Charleston  and  West 
Virginia,  desire  to  express  our  pride  in  you  and  the  splen- 
did career  that  you  have  thus  far  accomplished,  and  ask 
that  we  be  permitted  to  show  our  pride  and  interest  in  a 
substantial  way. 

Your  recent  visit  to  your  old  home  in  our  midst  awoke 
within  us  the  keenest  regret  that  we  were  not  permitted  to 
hear  you  and  render  some  substantial  aid  to  your  work, 
before  you  left  for  Europe. 

In  view  of  the  foregoing,  we  earnestly  invite  you  to 
share  the  hospitality  of  our  city  upon  your  return  from 
Europe,  and  give  us  the  opportunity  to  hear  you  and  put 
ourselves  in  touch  with  your  work  in  a  way  that  will  be 
most  gratifying  to  yourself,  and  that  we  may  receive  the 
inspiration  of  your  words  and  presence. 

An  early  reply  to  this  invitation,  with  an  indication  of 
the  time  you  may  reach  our  city,  will  greatly  oblige, 
Yours  very  respectfully, 

The  Charleston  Daily  Gazette,  The  Daily  Mail- 
Tribune  ;  G.  W.  Atkinson,  Governor  ;  E.  L.  Boggs, 
Secretary  to  Governor ;  Wm.  M.  O.  Dawson, 
Secretary  of  State ;  L.  M.  La  Follette,  Auditor ; 
J.  R.  Trotter,  Superintendent  of  Schools  ;  E.  W.  Wil- 
son, ex-Governor  ;  W.  A.  MacCorkle,  ex-Governor  ; 
John  Q.  Dickinson,  President  Kanawha  Valley  Bank  ; 
L.  Prichard,  President  Charleston  National  Bank ; 
Geo.  S.  Couch,  President  Kanawha  National  Bank ; 


EUROPE  291 

Ed.  Reid,  Cashier  Kanawha  National  Bank ;  Geo. 
S.  Laidley,  Superintendent  City  Schools ;  L.  E.  Mc- 
Whorter,  President  Board  of  Education  ;  Chas.  K. 
Payne,  wholesale  merchant  ;  and  many  others. 

This  invitation,  coming  as  it  did  from  the  City 
Council,  the  state  officers,  and  all  the  substantial 
citizens  of  both  races  of  the  community  where  I 
had  spent  my  boyhood,  and  from  which  I  had  gone 
a  few  years  before,  unknown,  in  poverty  and  igno- 
rance, in  quest  of  an  education,  not  only  surprised 
me,  but  almost  unmanned  me.  I  could  not  under- 
stand what  I  had  done  to  deserve  it  all. 

I  accepted  the  invitation,  and  at  the  appointed 
day  was  met  at  the  railway  station  at  Charleston  by 
a  committee  headed  by  ex-Governor  W.  A.  Mac- 
Corkle,  and  composed  of  men  of  both  races.  The 
public  reception  was  held  in  the  Opera-House  at 
Charleston.  The  Governor  of  the  state,  the  Hon. 
George  W.  Atkinson,  presided,  and  an  address  of 
welcome  was  made  by  ex-Governor  MacCorkle.  A 
prominent  part  in  the  reception  was  taken  by  the 
coloured  citizens.  The  Opera-House  was  filled  with 
citizens  of  both  races,  and  among  the  white  people 
were  many  for  whom  I  had  worked  when  a  boy. 
The  next  day  Governor  and  Mrs.  Atkinson  gave 
me  a  public  reception  at  the  State  House,  which 
was  attended  by  all  classes. 


292  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

Not  long  after  this  the  coloured  people  in  Atlanta, 
Georgia,  gave  me  a  reception  at  which  the  Governor 
of  the  state  presided,  and  a  similar  reception  was 
given  me  in  New  Orleans,  which  was  presided  over 
by  the  Mayor  of  the  city.  Invitations  came  from 
many  other  places  which  I  was  not  able  to  accept. 


CHAPTER   XVII 


LAST    WORDS 


BETORE  going  to  Europe  some  events  came 
into  my  life  which  were  great  surprises  to 
me.  In  fact,  my  whole  life  has  largely  been 
one  of  surprises.  I  believe  that  any  man's  life  will 
be  filled  with  constant,  unexpected  encouragements 
of  this  kind  if  he  makes  up  his  mind  to  do  his 
level  best  each  day  of  his  life  —  that  is,  tries  to 
make  each  day  reach  as  nearly  as  possible  the  high- 
water  mark  of  pure,  unselfish,  useful  living.  I  pity 
the  man,  black  or  white,  who  has  never  experienced 
the  joy  and  satisfaction  that  come  to  one  by  reason 
of  an  effort  to  assist  in  making  some  one  else  more 
useful  and  more  happy. 

Six  months  before  he  died,  and  nearly  a  year 
after  he  had  been  stricken  with  paralysis,  General 
Armstrong  expressed  a  wish  to  visit  Tuskegee 
again  before  he  passed  away.  Notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  he  had  lost  the  use  of  his  limbs  to  such 
an  extent  that  he  was  practically  helpless,  his  wish 
was    gratified,   and    he  was  brought    to    Tuskegee. 

293 


294  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

The  owners  of  the  Tuskegee  Railroad,  white  men 
living  in  the  town,  offered  to  run  a  special  train, 
without  cost,  out  to  the  main  station  —  Chehaw, 
five  miles  away  —  to  meet  him.  He  arrived  on 
the  school  grounds  about  nine  o'clock  in  the  even- 
ing. Some  one  had  suggested  that  we  give  the 
General  a  "  pine-knot  torchlight  reception."  This 
plan  was  carried  out,  and  the  moment  that  his 
carriage  entered  the  school  grounds  he  began  pass- 
ing between  two  lines  of  lighted  and  waving  "  fat 
pine  "  wood  knots  held  by  over  a  thousand  students 
and  teachers.  The  whole  thing  was  so  novel  and 
surprising  that  the  General  was  completely  over- 
come with  happiness.  He  remained  a  guest  in 
my  home  for  nearly  two  months,  and,  although 
almost  wholly  without  the  use  of  voice  or  limb, 
he  spent  nearly  every  hour  in  devising  ways  and 
means  to  help  the  South.  Time  and  time  again 
he  said  to  me,  during  this  visit,  that  it  was  not 
only  the  duty  of  the  country  to  assist  in  elevating 
the  Negro  of  the  South,  but  the  poor  white  man 
as  well.  At  the  end  of  his  visit  I  resolved  anew 
to  devote  myself  more  earnestly  than  ever  to  the 
cause  which  was  so  near  his  heart.  I  said  that  if 
a  man  in  his  condition  was  willing  to  think,  work, 
and  act,  I  should  not  be  wanting  in  furthering  in 
every  possible  way  the  wish  of  his  heart. 


LAST   WORDS  295 

The  death  of  General  Armstrong,  a  few  weeks 
later,  gave  me  the  privilege  of  getting  acquainted 
with  one  of  the  finest,  most  unselfish,  and  most 
attractive  men  that  I  have  ever  come  in  contact 
with.  I  refer  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hollis  B.  Frissell, 
now  the  Principal  cf  the  Hampton  Institute,  and 
General  Armstrong's  successor.  Under  the  clear, 
strong,  and  almost  perfect  leadership  of  Dr.  Frissell, 
Hampton  has  had  a  career  of  prosperity  and  useful- 
ness that  is  all  that  the  General  could  have  wished 
for.  It  seems  to  be  the  constant  effort  of  Dr. 
Frissell  to  hide  his  own  great  personality  behind 
that  of  General  Armstrong — to  make  himself  of 
"no  reputation"  for  the  sake  of  the  cause. 

More  than  once  I  have  been  asked  what  was 
the  greatest  surprise  that  ever  came  to  me.  I 
have  little  hesitation  in  answering  that  question. 
It  was  the  following  letter,  which  came  to  me 
one  Sunday  morning  when  I  was  sitting  on  the 
veranda  of  my  home  at  Tuskegee,  surrounded  by 
my  wife  and  three  children  :  — 

Harvard  University,  Cambridge,  May  28,1896. 
President  Booker  T.  Washington, 

My  Dear  Sir  :  Harvard  University  desires  to  confer  on 
you  at  the  approaching  Commencement  an  honorary  degree ; 
but  it  is  our  custom  to  confer  degrees  only  on  gentlemen 
who  are  present.      Our  Commencement  occurs   this   year 


296  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

on  June   24,  and  your  presence  would  be  desirable  from 
about  noon  till  about  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.     Would 
it  be  possible  for  you  to  be  in  Cambridge  on  that  day  ? 
Believe  me,  with  great  regard, 

Very  truly  yours, 

Charles  W.  Eliot. 

This  was  a  recognition  that  had  never  in  the 
slightest  manner  entered  into  my  mind,  and  it  was 
hard  for  me  to  realize  that  I  was  to  be  honoured  by 
a  degree  from  the  oldest  and  most  renowned  uni- 
versity in  America.  As  I  sat  upon  my  veranda, 
with  this  letter  in  my  hand,  tears  came  into  my 
eyes.  My  whole  former  life  —  my  life  as  a  slave 
on  the  plantation,  my  work  in  the  coal-mine,  the 
times  when  I  was  without  food  and  clothing,  when 
I  made  my  bed  under  a  sidewalk,  my  struggles  for 
an  education,  the  trying  days  I  had  had  at  Tuske- 
gee,  days  when  I  did  not  know  where  to  turn  for  a 
dollar  to  continue  the  work  there,  the  ostracism  and 
sometimes  oppression  of  my  race,  —  all  this  passed 
before  me  and  nearly  overcame  me. 

I  had  never  sought  or  cared  for  what  the  world 
calls  fame.  I  have  always  looked  upon  fame  as  some- 
thing to  be  used  in  accomplishing  good.  I  have 
often  said  to  my  friends  that  if  I  can  use  whatever 
prominence  may  have  come  to  me  as  an  instrument 
with  which  to  do  good,  I  am  content  to  have  it.     I 


LAST   WORDS  297 

care  for  it  only  as  a  means  to  be  used  for  doing 
good,  just  as  wealth  may  be  used.  The  more  I 
come  into  contact  with  wealthy  people,  the  more  I 
believe  that  they  are  growing  in  the  direction  of 
looking  upon  their  money  simply  as  an  instrument 
which  God  has  placed  in  their  hand  for  doing  good 
with.  I  never  go  to  the  office  of  Mr.  John  D.' 
Rockefeller,  who  more  than  once  has  been  generous 
to  Tuskegee,  without  being  reminded  of  this.  The 
close,  careful,  and  minute  investigation  that  he  always 
makes  in  order  to  be  sure  that  every  dollar  that  he 
gives  will  do  the  most  good  —  an  investigation  that 
is  just  as  searching  as  if  he  were  investing  money 
in  a  business  enterprise  —  convinces  me  that  the 
growth  in  this  direction  is  most  encouraging. 

At  nine  o'clock,  on  the  morning  of  June  24,  I 
met  President  Eliot,  the  Board  of  Overseers  of  Har- 
vard University,  and  the  other  guests,  at  the  desig- 
nated place  on  the  university  grounds,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  being  escorted  to  Sanders  Theatre,  where 
the  Commencement  exercises  were  to  be  held  and 
degrees  conferred.  Among  others  invited  to  be 
present  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  a  degree  at  this 
time  were  General  Nelson  A.  Miles,  Dr.  Bell,  the 
inventor  of  the  Bell  telephone,  Bishop  Vincent,  and 
the  Rev.  Minot  J.  Savage.  We  were  placed  in  line 
immediately  behind  the  President  and  the  Board  of 


298  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

Overseers,  and  directly  afterward  the  Governor  of 
Massachusetts,  escorted  by  the  Lancers,  arrived  and 
took  his  place  in  the  line  of  march  by  the  side  of 
President  Eliot.  In  the  line  there  were  also  various 
other  officers  and  professors,  clad  in  cap  and  gown. 
In  this  order  we  marched  to  Sanders  Theatre,  where, 
after  the  usual  Commencement  exercises,  came  the 
conferring  of  the  honorary  degrees.  This,  it  seems, 
is  always  considered  the  most  interesting  feature  at 
Harvard.  It  is  not  known,  until  the  individuals 
appear,  upon  whom  the  honorary  degrees  are  to  be 
conferred,  and  those  receiving  these  honours  are 
cheered  by  the  students  and  others  in  proportion  to 
their  popularity.  During  the  conferring  of  the  de- 
grees excitement  and  enthusiasm  are  at  the  highest 
pitch. 

When  my  name  was  called,  I  rose,  and  President 
Eliot,  in  beautiful  and  strong  English,  conferred 
upon  me  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts.  After 
these  exercises  were  over,  those  who  had  received 
honorary  degrees  were  invited  to  lunch  with  the 
President.  After  the  lunch  we  were  formed  in  line 
again,  and  were  escorted  by  the  Marshal  of  the  day, 
who  that  year  happened  to  be  Bishop  William  Law- 
rence, through  the  grounds,  where,  at  different 
points,  those  who  had  been  honoured  were  called  by 
name  and  received  the  Harvard  yell.     This  march 


LAST   WORDS  299 

ended  at  Memorial  Hall,  where  the  alumni  dinner 
was  served.  To  see  over  a  thousand  strong  men, 
representing  all  that  is  best  in  State,  Church,  busi- 
ness, and  education,  with  the  glow  and  enthusiasm 
of  college  loyalty  and  college  pride,  —  which  has,  I 
think,  a  peculiar  Harvard  flavour, — is  a  sight  that 
does  not  easily  fade  from  memory. 

Among  the  speakers  after  dinner  were  President 
Eliot,  Governor  Roger  Wolcott,  General  Miles, 
Dr.  Minot  J.  Savage,  the  Hon.  Henry  Cabot 
Lodge,  and  myself.  When  I  was  called  upon, 
I   said,  among  other  things  :  — 

It  would  in  some  measure  relieve  my  embarrassment 
if  I  could,  even  in  a  slight  degree,  feel  myself  worthy  of 
the  great  honour  which  you  do  me  to-day.  Why  you 
have  called  me  from  the  Black  Belt  of  the  South,  from 
among  my  humble  people,  to  share  in  the  honours  of  this 
occasion,  is  not  for  me  to  explain  ;  and  yet  it  may  not  be 
inappropriate  for  me  to  suggest  that  it  seems  to  me  that  one 
of  the  most  vital  questions  that  touch  our  American  life  is 
how  to  bring  the  strong,  wealthy,  and  learned  into  helpful 
touch  with  the  poorest,  most  ignorant,  and  humblest,  and 
at  the  same  time  make  one  appreciate  the  vitalizing, 
strengthening  influence  of  the  other.  How  shall  we  make 
the  mansions  on  yon  Beacon  Street  feel  and  see  the  need 
of  the  spirits  in  the  lowliest  cabin  in  Alabama  cotton- 
fields  or  Louisiana  sugar-bottoms  ?  This  problem  Harvard 
University  is  solving,  not  by  bringing  itself  down,  but  by 
bringing  the  masses  up. 


3oo  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

If  my  life  in  the  past  has  meant  anything  in  the  lifting 
up  of  my  people  and  the  bringing  about  of  better  relations 
between  your  race  and  mine,  I  assure  you  from  this  day  it 
will  mean  doubly  more.  In  the  economy  of  God  there 
is  but  one  standard  by  which  an  individual  can  succeed  — 
there  is  but  one  for  a  race.  This  country  demands  that 
every  race  shall  measure  itself  by  the  American  standard. 
By  it  a  race  must  rise  or  fall,  succeed  or  fail,  and  in  the 
last  analysis  mere  sentiment  counts  for  little.  During  the 
next  half-century  and  more,  my  race  must  continue  pass- 
ing through  the  severe  American  crucible.  We  are  to  be 
tested  in  our  patience,  our  forbearance,  our  perseverance, 
our  power  to  endure  wrong,  to  withstand  temptations,  to 
economize,  to  acquire  and  use  skill ;  in  our  ability  to 
compete,  to  succeed  in  commerce,  to  disregard  the  super- 
ficial for  the  real,  the  appearance  for  the  substance,  to  be 
great  and  yet  small,  learned  and  yet  simple,  high  and  yet 
the  servant  of  all. 

As  this  was  the  first  time  that  a  New  England 
university  had  conferred  an  honorary  degree  upon  a 
Negro,  it  was  the  occasion  of  much  newspaper  com- 
ment throughout  the  country.  A  correspondent  of 
a  New  York  paper  said  :  — 

When  the  name  of  Booker  T.  Washington  was  called, 
and  he  arose  to  acknowledge  and  accept,  there  was  such  an 
outburst  of  applause  as  greeted  no  other  name  except  that 
of  the  popular  soldier  patriot,  General  Miles.  The  applause 
was  not  studied  and  stiff",  sympathetic  and  condoling ;  it 
was  enthusiasm  and  admiration.      Every  part  of  the  audi- 


LAST   WORDS  301 

ence  from  pit  to  gallery  joined  in,  and  a  glow  covered 
the  cheeks  of  those  around  me,  proving  sincere  appreciation 
of  the  rising  struggle  of  an  ex-slave  and  the  work  he  has 
accomplished  for  his  race. 

A  Boston  paper  said,  editorially  :  — 

In  conferring  the  honorary  degree  of  Master  of  Arts 
upon  the  Principal  of  Tuskegee  Institute,  Harvard  Uni- 
versity has  honoured  itself  as  well  as  the  object  of  this 
distinction.  The  work  which  Professor  Booker  T.  Wash- 
ington has  accomplished  for  the  education,  good  citizenship, 
and  popular  enlightenment  in  his  chosen  field  of  labour  in 
the  South  entitles  him  to  rank  with  our  national  benefactors. 
The  university  which  can  claim  him  on  its  list  of  sons, 
whether  in   regular  course  or  honoris  causa,  may  be   proud. 

It  has  been  mentioned  that  Mr.  Washington  is  the  first 
of  his  race  to  receive  an  honorary  degree  from  a  New  Eng- 
land university.  This,  in  itself,  is  a  distinction.  But  the 
degree  was  not  conferred  because  Mr.  Washington  is  a 
coloured  man,  or  because  he  was  born  in  slavery,  but  because 
he  has  shown,  by  his  work  for  the  elevation  of  the  people 
of  the  Black  Belt  of  the  South,  a  genius  and  a  broad 
humanity  which  count  for  greatness  in  any  man,  whether 
his  skin  be  white  or  black. 

Another  Boston  paper  said  :  — 

It  is  Harvard  which,  first  among  New  England  colleges, 
confers  an  honorary  degree  upon  a  black  man.  No  one 
who  has  followed  the  history  of  Tuskegee  and  its  work  can 
fail  to  admire  the  courage,  persistence,  and  splendid  com- 


302  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

mon  sense  of  Booker  T.  Washington.  Well  may  Harvard 
honour  the  ex-slave,  the  value  of  whose  services,  alike  to 
his  race  and  country,  only  the  future  can  estimate. 

The  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Times 
wrote :  — 

All  the  speeches  were  enthusiastically  received,  but  the 
coloured  man  carried  off  the  oratorical  honours,  and  the 
applause  which  broke  out  when  he  had  finished  was  vocif- 
erous and  long-continued. 

Soon  after  I  began  work  at  Tuskegee  I  formed  a 
resolution,  in  the  secret  of  my  heart,  that  I  would 
try  to  build  up  a  school  that  would  be  of  so  much 
service  to  the  country  that  the  President  of  the 
United  States  would  one  day  come  to  see  it.  This 
was,  I  confess,  rather  a  bold  resolution,  and  for  a 
number  of  years  I  kept  it  hidden  in  my  own  thoughts, 
not  daring  to  share  it  with  any  one. 

In  November,  1897,  I  made  the  first  move  in 
this  direction,  and  that  was  in  securing  a  visit  from 
a  member  of  President  McKinley's  Cabinet,  the 
Hon.  James  Wilson,  Secretary  of  Agriculture.  He 
came  to  deliver  an  address  at  the  formal  opening  of 
the  Slater- Armstrong  Agricultural  Building,  our  first 
large  building  to  be  used  for  the  purpose  of  giving 
training  to  our  students  in  agriculture  and  kindred 
branches. 


LAST   WORDS  303 

In  the  fall  of  1898  I  heard  that  President  Mc- 
Kinley  was  likely  to  visit  Atlanta,  Georgia,  for  the 
purpose  of  taking  part  in  the  Peace  Jubilee  exercises 
to  be  held  there  to  commemorate  the  successful  close 
of  the  Spanish-American  war.  At  this  time  I  had 
been  hard  at  work,  together  with  our  teachers,  for 
eighteen  years,  trying  to  build  up  a  school  that  we 
thought  would  be  of  service  to  the  Nation,  and  I 
determined  to  make  a  direct  effort  to  secure  a  visit 
from  the  President  and  his  Cabinet.  I  went  to 
Washington,  and  I  was  not  long  in  the  city  before 
I  found  my  way  to  the  White  House.  When  I 
got  there  I  found  the  waiting  rooms  full  of  people, 
and  my  heart  began  to  sink,  for  I  feared  there  would 
not  be  much  chance  of  my  seeing  the  President  that 
day,  if  at  all.  But,  at  any  rate,  I  got  an  opportu- 
nity to  see  Mr.  J.  Addison  Porter,  the  secretary  to 
the  President,  and  explained  to  him  my  mission. 
Mr.  Porter  kindly  sent  my  card  directly  to  the  Presi- 
dent, and  in  a  few  minutes  word  came  from  Mr. 
McKinley  that  he  would  see  me. 

How  any  man  can  see  so  many  people  of  all 
kinds,  with  all  kinds  of  errands,  and  do  so  much 
hard  work,  and  still  keep  himself  calm,  patient,  and 
fresh  for  each  visitor  in  the  way  that  President  Mc- 
Kinley does,  I  cannot  understand.  When  I  saw 
the  President  he  kindly  thanked  me  for  the  work 


304  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

which  we  were  doing  at  Tuskegee  for  the  interests 
of  the  country.  I  then  told  him,  briefly,  the  object 
of  my  visit.  I  impressed  upon  him  the  fact  that  a 
visit  from  the  Chief  Executive  of  the  Nation  would 
not  only  encourage  our  students  and  teachers,  but 
would  help  the  entire  race.  He  seemed  interested, 
but  did  not  make  a  promise  to  go  to  Tuskegee,  for 
the  reason  that  his  plans  about  going  to  Atlanta 
were  not  then  fully  made ;  but  he  asked  me  to  call 
the  matter  to  his  attention  a  few  weeks  later. 

By  the  middle  of  the  following  month  the  Presi- 
dent had  definitely  decided  to  attend  the  Peace 
Jubilee  at  Atlanta.  I  went  to  Washington  again 
and  saw  him,  with  a  view  of  getting  him  to  extend 
his  trip  to  Tuskegee.  On  this  second  visit  Mr. 
Charles  W.  Hare,  a  prominent  white  citizen  of 
Tuskegee,  kindly  volunteered  to  accompany  me,  to 
reenforce  my  invitation  with  one  from  the  white 
people  of  Tuskegee  and  the  vicinity. 

Just  previous  to  my  going  to  Washington  the 
second  time,  the  country  had  been  excited,  and  the 
coloured  people  greatly  depressed,  because  of  sev- 
eral severe  race  riots  which  had  occurred  at  differ- 
ent points  in  the  South.  As  soon  as  I  saw  the 
President,  I  perceived  that  his  heart  was  greatly 
burdened  by  reason  of  these  race  disturbances. 
Although   there  were   many  people  waiting  to  see 


LAST   WORDS  305 

him,  he  detained  me  for  some  time,  discussing  the 
condition  and  prospects  of  the  race.  He  remarked 
several  times  that  he  was  determined  to  show  his 
interest  and  faith  in  the  race,  not  merely  in  words, 
but  by  acts.  When  I  told  him  that  I  thought  that 
at  that  time  scarcely  anything  would  go  farther  in 
giving  hope  and  encouragement  to  the  race  than  the 
fact  that  the  President  of  the  Nation  would  be  will- 
ing to  travel  one  hundred  and  forty  miles  out  of  his 
way  to  spend  a  day  at  a  Negro  institution,  he  seemed 
deeply  impressed. 

While  I  was  with  the  President,  a  white  citizen 
of  Atlanta,  a  Democrat  and  an  ex-slaveholder,  came 
into  the  room,  and  the  President  asked  his  opinion 
as  to  the  wisdom  of  his  going  to  Tuskegee.  With- 
out hesitation  the  Atlanta  man  replied  that  it  was 
the  proper  thing  for  him  to  do.  This  opinion  was 
reenforced  by  that  friend  of  the  race,  Dr.  J.  L.  M. 
Curry.  The  President  promised  that  he  would 
visit  our  school   on  the    16th  of  December. 

When  it  became  known  that  the  President  was 
going  to  visit  our  school,  the  white  citizens  of  the 
town  of  Tuskegee  —  a  mile  distant  from  the  school 
—  were  as  much  pleased  as  were  our  students  and 
teachers.  The  white  people  of  the  town,  including 
both  men  and  women,  began  arranging  to  decorate 
the  town,  and  to  form   themselves  into  committees 


306  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

for  the  purpose  of  cooperating  with  the  officers  of 
our  school  in  order  that  the  distinguished  visitor 
might  have  a  fitting  reception.  I  think  I  never 
realized  before  this  how  much  the  white  people  of 
Tuskegee  and  vicinity  thought  of  our  institution. 
During  the  days  when  we  were  preparing  for  the 
President's  reception,  dozens  of  these  people  came 
to  me  and  said  that,  while  they  did  not  want  to 
push  themselves  into  prominence,  if  there  was  any- 
thing they  could  do  to  help,  or  to  relieve  me  per- 
sonally, I  had  but  to  intimate  it  and  they  would  be 
only  too  glad  to  assist.  In  fact,  the  thing  that 
touched  me  almost  as  deeply  as  the  visit  of  the 
President  itself  was  the  deep  pride  which  all  classes 
of  citizens  in  Alabama  seemed  to  take  in  our  work. 
The  morning  of  December  16th  brought  to  the 
little  city  of  Tuskegee  such  a  crowd  as  it  had 
never  seen  before.  With  the  President  came  Mrs. 
McKinley  and  all  of  the  Cabinet  officers  but  one ; 
and  most  of  them  brought  their  wives  or  some 
members  of  their  families.  Several  prominent  gen- 
erals came,  including  General  Shafter  and  General 
Joseph  Wheeler,  who  were  recently  returned  from 
the  Spanish-American  war.  There  was  also  a  host 
of  newspaper  correspondents.  The  Alabama  Legis- 
lature was  in  session  at  Montgomery  at  this  time. 
This  body  passed  a  resolution  to  adjourn  for  the 


LAST   WORDS  307 

purpose  of  visiting  Tuskegee.  Just  before  the  ar- 
rival of  the  President's  party  the  Legislature  arrived, 
headed  by  the  governor  and  other  state  officials. 

The  citizens  of  Tuskegee  had  decorated  the  town 
from  the  station  to  the  school  in  a  generous  man- 
ner. In  order  to  economize  in  the  matter  of  time, 
we  arranged  to  have  the  whole  school  pass  in  review 
before  the  President.  Each  student  carried  a  stalk 
of  sugar-cane  with  some  open  bolls  of  cotton  fast- 
ened to  the  end  of  it.  Following  the  students  the 
work  of  all  departments  of  the  school  passed  in 
review,  displayed  on  "  floats "  drawn  by  horses, 
mules,  and  oxen.  On  these  floats  we  tried  to  ex- 
hibit not  only  the  present  work  of  the  school,  but 
to  show  the  contrasts  between  the  old  methods  of 
doing  things  and  the  new.  As  an  example,  we 
showed  the  old  method  of  dairying  in  contrast 
with  the  improved  methods,  the  old  methods  of 
tilling  the  soil  in  contrast  with  the  new,  the  old 
methods  of  cooking  and  housekeeping  in  contrast 
with  the  new.  These  floats  consumed  an  hour  and 
a  half  of  time  in  passing. 

In  his  address  in  our  large,  new  chapel,  which  the 
students  had  recently  completed,  the  President  said, 
among  other  things  :  — 

To  meet  you  under  such  pleasant  auspices  and  to  have 
the  opportunity  of  a  personal  observation  of  your  work  is 


308  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

indeed  most  gratifying.  The  Tuskegee  Normal  and  Indus- 
trial Institute  is  ideal  in  its  conception,  and  has  already  a 
large  and  growing  reputation  in  the  country,  and  is  not 
unknown  abroad.  I  congratulate  all  who  are  associated  in 
this  undertaking  for  the  good  work  which  it  is  doing  in  the 
education  of  its  students  to  lead  lives  of  honour  and  useful- 
ness, thus  exalting  the  race  for  which  it  was  established. 

Nowhere,  I  think,  could  a  more  delightful  location  have 
been  chosen  for  this  unique  educational  experiment,  which 
has  attracted  the  attention  and  won  the  support  even  of 
conservative  philanthropists  in  all  sections  of  the  country. 

To  speak  of  Tuskegee  without  paying  special  tribute  to 
Booker  T.  Washington's  genius  and  perseverance  would  be 
impossible.  The  inception  of  this  noble  enterprise  was 
his,  and  he  deserves  high  credit  for  it.  His  was  the  enthu- 
siasm and  enterprise  which  made  its  steady  progress  possible 
and  established  in  the  institution  its  present  high  stand- 
ard of  accomplishment.  He  has  won  a  worthy  reputation 
as  one  of  the  great  leaders  of  his  race,  widely  known  and 
much  respected  at  home  and  abroad  as  an  accomplished 
educator,  a  great  orator,  and  a  true  philanthropist. 

The  Hon.  John  D.  Long,  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  said  in  part :  — 

I  cannot  make  a  speech  to-day.  My  heart  is  too  full 
—  full  of  hope,  admiration,  and  pride  for  my  countrymen 
of  both  sections  and  both  colours.  I  am  filled  with  grati- 
tude and  admiration  for  your  work,  and  from  this  time  for- 
ward I  shall  have  absolute  confidence  in  your  progress  and 
in  the  solution  of  the  problem  in  which  you  are  engaged. 


LAST   WORDS  309 

The  problem,  I  say,  has  been  solved.  A  picture  has 
been  presented  to-day  -which  should  be  put  upon  canvas 
with  the  pictures  of  Washington  and  Lincoln,  and  trans- 
mitted to  future  time  and  generations  —  a  picture  which 
the  press  of  the  country  should  spread  broadcast  over  the 
land,  a  most  dramatic  picture,  and  that  picture  is  this  :  The 
President  of  the  United  States  standing  on  this  platform  ; 
on  one  side  the  Governor  of  Alabama,  on  the  other,  com- 
pleting the  trinity,  a  representative  of  a  race  only  a  few 
years  ago  in  bondage,  the  coloured  President  of  the  Tuske- 
gee  Normal  and  Industrial  Institute. 

God  bless  the  President  under  whose  majesty  such  a 
scene  as  that  is  presented  to  the  American  people.  God 
bless  the  state  of  Alabama,  which  is  showing  that  it  can 
deal  with  this  problem  for  itself.  God  bless  the  orator, 
philanthropist,  and  disciple  of  the  Great  Master — who,  if 
he  were  on  earth,  would  be  doing  the  same  work  —  Booker 
T.  Washington. 

Postmaster  General  Smith  closed  the  address 
which   he  made  with  these  words:  — 

We  have  witnessed  many  spectacles  within  the  last  few 
days.  We  have  seen  the  magnificent  grandeur  and  the 
magnificent  achievements  of  one  of  the  great  metropolitan 
cities  of  the  South.  We  have  seen  heroes  of  the  war  pass 
by  in  procession.  We  have  seen  floral  parades.  But  I 
am  sure  my  colleagues  will  agree  with  me  in  saying  that 
we  have  witnessed  no  spectacle  more  impressive  and  more 
encouraging,  more  inspiring  for  our  future,  than  that  which 
we  have  witnessed  here  this  morning. 


310  UP   FROM   SLAVERY 

Some  days  after  the  President  returned  to  Wash- 
ington I  received  the  letter  which  follows  : — 

Executive  Mansion,   Washington,  Dec.  23,  1899. 

Dear  Sir  :  By  this  mail  I  take  pleasure  in  sending  you 
engrossed  copies  of  the  souvenir  of  the  visit  of  the  Presi- 
dent to  your  institution.  These  sheets  bear  the  auto- 
graphs of  the  President  and  the  members  of  the  Cabinet 
who  accompanied  him  on  the  trip.  Let  me  take  this 
opportunity  of  congratulating  you  most  heartily  and  sin- 
cerely upon  the  great  success  of  the  exercises  provided  for 
and  entertainment  furnished  us  under  your  auspices  during 
our  visit  to  Tuskegee.  Every  feature  of  the  programme 
was  perfectly  executed  and  was  viewed  or  participated  in 
with  the  heartiest  satisfaction  by  every  visitor  present. 
The  unique  exhibition  which  you  gave  of  your  pupils  en- 
gaged in  their  industrial  vocations  was  not  only  artistic  but 
thoroughly  impressive.  The  tribute  paid  by  the  President 
and  his  Cabinet  to  your  work  was  none  too  high,  and 
forms  a  most  encouraging  augury,  I  think,  for  the  future 
prosperity  of  your  institution.  I  cannot  close  without 
assuring  you  that  the  modesty  shown  by  yourself  in  the 
exercises  was  most  favourably  commented  upon  by  all  the 
members  of  our  party. 

With  best  wishes    for   the  continued    advance  of  your 
most  useful  and  patriotic  undertaking,  kind  personal  regards, 
and  the  compliments  of  the  season,  believe  me,  always, 
Very  sincerely  yours, 

John  Addison  Porter, 

Secretary  to  the  President. 
To    President    Booker    T.    Washington,    Tuskegee 

Normal  and  Industrial  Institute,  Tuskegee,  Ala. 


LAST   WORDS  311 

Twenty  years  have  now  passed  since  I  made  the 
first  humble  effort  at  Tuskegee,  in  a  broken-down 
shanty  and  an  old  hen-house,  without  owning  a 
dollar's  worth  of  property,  and  with  but  one  teacher 
and  thirty  students.  At  the  present  time  the  in- 
stitution owns  twenty-three  hundred  acres  of  land, 
over  seven  hundred  of  which  are  under  cultivation 
each  year,  entirely  by  student  labour.  There  are 
now  upon  the  grounds,  counting  large  and  small, 
forty  buildings  ;  and  all  except  four  of  these  have 
been  almost  wholly  erected  by  the  labour  of  our 
students.  While  the  students  are  at  work  upon 
the  land  and  in  erecting  buildings,  they  are  taught, 
by  competent  instructors,  the  latest  methods  of 
agriculture  and  the  trades  connected  with  building. 

There  are  in  constant  operation  at  the  school,  in 
connection  with  thorough  academic  and  religious 
training,  twenty-eight  industrial  departments.  All 
of  these  teach  industries  at  which  our  men  and 
women  can  find  immediate  employment  as  soon  as 
they  leave  the  institution.  The  only  difficulty  now 
is  that  the  demand  for  our  graduates  from  both 
white  and  black  people  in  the  South  is  so  great  that 
we  cannot  supply  more  than  one-half  the  persons 
for  whom  applications  come  to  us.  Neither  have 
we  the  buildings  nor  the  money  for  current  ex- 
penses to  enable  us   to   admit  to  the  school  more 


312  UP   FROM    SLAVERY 

than  one-half  the  young  men  and  women  who 
apply  to  us  for  admission. 

In  our  industrial  teaching  we  keep  three  things 
in  mind :  first,  that  the  student  shall  be  so  educated 
that  he  shall  be  enabled  to  meet  conditions  as  they 
exist  now,  in  the  part  of  the  South  where  he  lives  — 
in  a  word,  to  be  able  to  do  the  thing  which  the 
world  wants  done ;  second,  that  every  student  who 
graduates  from  the  school  shall  have  enough  skill, 
coupled  with  intelligence  and  moral  character,  to 
enable  him  to  make  a  living  for  himself  and  others  ; 
third,  to  send  every  graduate  out  feeling  and  know- 
ing that  labour  is  dignified  and  beautiful  — to  make 
each  one  love  labour  instead  of  trying  to  escape  it. 
In  addition  to  the  agricultural  training  which  we 
give  to  young  men,  and  the  training  given  to  our 
girls  in  all  the  usual  domestic  employments,  we  now 
train  a  number  of  girls  in  agriculture  each  year. 
These  girls  are  taught  gardening,  fruit-growing, 
dairying,  bee-culture,  and  poultry-raising. 

While  the  institution  is  in  no  sense  denomina- 
tional, we  have  a  department  known  as  the  Phelps 
Hall  Bible  Training  School,  in  which  a  number  of 
students  are  prepared  for  the  ministry  and  other 
forms  of  Christian  work,  especially  work  in  the 
country  districts.  What  is  equally  important,  each 
one  of  these  students  works  half  of  each  day  at  some 


LAST   WORDS  313 

industry,  in  order  to  get  skill  and  the  love  of  work, 
so  that  when  he  goes  out  from  the  institution  he  is 
prepared  to  set  the  people  with  whom  he  goes  to 
labour  a  proper  example  in  the  matter  of  industry. 

The  value  of  our  property  is  now  over  $300,000. 
If  we  add  to  this  our  endowment  fund,  which  at 
present  is  $215,000,  the  value  of  the  total  property 
is  now  nearly  half  a  million  dollars.  Aside  from 
the  need  for  more  buildings  and  for  money  for 
current  expenses,  the  endowment  fund  should  be 
increased  to  at  least  $500,000.  The  annual  current 
expenses  are  now  about  $80,000.  The  greater  part 
of  this  I  collect  each  year  by  going  from  door  to 
door  and  from  house  to  house.  All  of  our  property 
is  free  from  mortgage,  and  is  deeded  to  an  unde- 
nominational board  of  trustees  who  have  the  control 
of  the  institution. 

From  thirty  students  the  number  has  grown  to 
eleven  hundred,  coming  from  twenty-seven  states 
and  territories,  from  Africa,  Cuba,  Porto  Rico, 
Jamaica,  and  other  foreign  countries.  In  our  de- 
partments there  are  eighty-six  officers  and  instruc- 
tors ;  and  if  we  add  the  families  of  our  instructors, 
we  have  a  constant  population  upon  our  grounds 
of  not  far  from  fourteen  hundred  people. 

I  have  often  been  asked  how  we  keep  so  large  a 
body  of  people  together,  and  at  the  same  time  keep 


3H  UP    FROM    SLAVERY 

them  out  of  mischief.  There  are  two  answers  :  that 
the  men  and  women  who  come  to  us  for  an  educa- 
tion are  in  earnest ;  and  that  everybody  is  kept 
busy.  The  following  outline  of  our  daily  work 
will  testify  to  this :  — 

5  a.m.,  rising  bell;  5.50  a.m.,  warning  breakfast  bell; 
6  a.m.,  breakfast  bell;  6.20  a.m.,  breakfast  over;  6.20  to 
6.50  a.m.,  rooms  are  cleaned ;  6.50,  work  bell ;  7.30, 
morning  study  hour;  8.20,  morning  school  bell;  8.25, 
inspection  of  young  men's  toilet  in  ranks  ;  8.40,  devotional 
exercises  in  chapel;  8.55,  "five  minutes  with  the  daily 
news  ;  "  9  a.m.,  class  work  begins  ;  1 2,  class  work  closes  ; 
12.15  P«M.,  dinner;  1  p.m.,  work  bell;  1. 30  p.m.,  class 
work  begins ;  3.30  p.m.,  class  work  ends ;  5.30  p.m.,  bell 
to  "knock  off"  work;  6  p.m.,  supper;  7.10  p.m.,  evening 
prayers;  7.30  p.m.,  evening  study  hours;  8.45  p.m.,  even- 
ing study  hour  closes;  9.20  p.m.,  warning  retiring  bell; 
9.30  p.m.,  retiring  bell. 

We  try  to  keep  constantly  in  mind  the  fact  that 
the  worth  of  the  school  is  to  be  judged  by  its  gradu- 
ates. Counting  those  who  have  finished  the  full 
course,  together  with  those  who  have  taken  enough 
training  to  enable  them  to  do  reasonably  good  work, 
we  can  safely  say  that  at  least  three  thousand  men 
and  women  from  Tuskegee  are  now  at  work  in 
different  parts  of  the  South ;  men  and  women  who, 
by  their  own  example  or  by  direct  effort,  are  show- 


LAST   WORDS  315 

ing  the  masses  of  our  race  how  to  improve  their 
material,  educational,  and  moral  and  religious  life. 
What  is  equally  important,  they  are  exhibiting  a 
degree  of  common  sense  and  self-control  which  is 
causing  better  relations  to  exist  between  the  races, 
and  is  causing  the  Southern  white  man  to  learn  to 
believe  in  the  value  of  educating  the  men  and 
women  of  my  race.  Aside  from  this,  there  is  the 
influence  that  is  constantly  being  exerted  through 
the  mothers'  meeting  and  the  plantation  work  con- 
ducted by  Mrs.  Washington. 

Wherever  our  graduates  go,  the  changes  which 
soon  begin  to  appear  in  the  buying  of  land,  improv- 
ing homes,  saving  money,  in  education,  and  in  high 
moral  character  are  remarkable.  Whole  communi- 
ties are  fast  being  revolutionized  through  the  instru- 
mentality of  these  men  and  women. 

Ten  years  ago  I  organized  at  Tuskegee  the  first 
Negro  Conference.  This  is  an  annual  gathering 
which  now  brings  to  the  school  eight  or  nine  hun- 
dred representative  men  and  women  of  the  race,  who 
come  to  spend  a  day  in  finding  out  what  the  actual 
industrial,  mental,  and  moral  conditions  of  the  people 
are,  and  in  forming  plans  for  improvement.  Out 
from  this  central  Negro  Conference  at  Tuskegee 
have  grown  numerous  state  and  local  conferences 
which   are  doing  the  same    kind   of  work.     As    a 


316  UP    FROM    SLAVERY 

result  of  the  influence  of  these  gatherings,  one  dele- 
gate reported  at  the  last  annual  meeting  that  ten 
families  in  his  community  had  bought  and  paid  for 
homes.  On  the  day  following  the  annual  Negro 
Conference,  there  is  held  the  "  Workers'  Con- 
ference." This  is  composed  of  officers  and  teachers 
who  are  engaged  in  educational  work  in  the  larger 
institutions  in  the  South.  The  Negro  Conference 
furnishes  a  rare  opportunity  for  these  workers  to 
study  the  real  condition  of  the  rank  and  file  of  the 
people. 

In  the  summer  of  1900,  with  the  assistance  of 
such  prominent  coloured  men  as  Mr.  T.  Thomas 
Fortune,  who  has  always  upheld  my  hands  in  every 
effort,  I  organized  the  National  Negro  Business 
League,  which  held  its  first  meeting  in  Boston,  and 
brought  together  for  the  first  time  a  large  number 
of  the  coloured  men  who  are  engaged  in  various 
lines  of  trade  or  business  in  different  parts  of  the 
United  states.  Thirty  states  were  represented  at 
our  first  meeting.  Out  of  this  national  meeting 
grew  state  and  local  business  leagues. 

In  addition  to  looking  after  the  executive  side  of 
the  work  at  Tuskegee,  and  raising  the  greater  part 
of  the  money  for  the  support  of  the  school,  I  cannot 
seem  to  escape  the  duty  of  answering  at  least  a  part 
of  the  calls  which  come  to  me  unsought  to  address 


LAST   WORDS  317 

Southern  white  audiences  and  audiences  of  my  own 
race,  as  well  as  frequent  gatherings  in  the  North. 
As  to  how  much  of  my  time  is  spent  in  this  way,  the 
following  clipping  from  a  Buffalo  (N.Y.)  paper  will 
tell.  This  has  reference  to  an  occasion  when  I 
spoke  before  the  National  Educational  Association 
in  that  city. 

Booker  T.  Washington,  the  foremost  educator  among 
the  coloured  people  of  the  world,  was  a  very  busy  man  from 
the  time  he  arrived  in  the  city  the  other  night  from  the 
West  and  registered  at  the  Iroquois.  He  had  hardly  re- 
moved the  stains  of  travel  when  it  was  time  to  partake  of 
supper.  Then  he  held  a  public  levee  in  the  parlours  of  the 
Iroquois  until  eight  o'clock.  During  that  time  he  was 
greeted  by  over  two  hundred  eminent  teachers  and  edu- 
cators from  all  parts  of  the  United  States.  Shortly  after 
eight  o'clock  he  was  driven  in  a  carriage  to  Music  Hall, 
and  in  one  hour  and  a  half  he  made  two  ringing  addresses, 
to  as  many  as  five  thousand  people,  on  Negro  education. 
Then  Mr.  Washington  was  taken  in  charge  by  a  delega- 
tion of  coloured  citizens,  headed  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Watkins, 
and  hustled  off  to  a  small  informal  reception,  arranged  in 
honour  of  the  visitor  by  the  people  of  his  race. 

Nor  can  I,  in  addition  to  making  these  addresses, 
escape  the  duty  of  calling  the  attention  of  the  South 
and  of  the  country  in  general,  through  the  medium 
of  the  press,  to  matters  that  pertain  to  the  interests 


3i 8  UP    FROM    SLAVERY 

of  both  races.  This,  for  example,  I  have  done  in 
regard  to  the  evil  habit  of  lynching.  When  the 
Louisiana  State  Constitutional  Convention  was  in 
session,  I  wrote  an  open  letter  to  that  body  pleading 
for  justice  for  the  race.  In  all  such  efforts  I  have 
received  warm  and  hearty  support  from  the  South- 
ern newspapers,  as  well  as  from  those  in  all  other 
parts  of  the  country. 

Despite  superficial  and  temporary  signs  which 
might  lead  one  to  entertain  a  contrary  opinion, 
there  was  never  a  time  when  I  felt  more  hopeful 
for  the  race  than  I  do  at  the  present.  The  great 
human  law  that  in  the  end  recognizes  and  rewards 
merit  is  everlasting  and  universal.  The  outside 
world  does  not  know,  neither  can  it  appreciate,  the 
struggle  that  is  constantly  going  on  in  the  hearts  of 
both  the  Southern  white  people  and  their  former 
slaves  to  free  themselves  from  racial  prejudice ;  and 
while  both  races  are  thus  struggling  they  should 
have  the  sympathy,  the  support,  and  the  forbear- 
ance of  the  rest  of  the  world. 

As  I  write  the  closing  words  of  this  autobiog- 
raphy I  find  myself —  not  by  design  —  in  the  city 
of  Richmond,  Virginia :  the  city  which  only  a  few 
decades  ago  was  the  capital  of  the  Southern  Confed- 
eracy, and  where,  about  twenty-five  years  ago,  be- 


LAST   WORDS  319 

cause  of  my  poverty  I  slept  night  after  night  under 
a  sidewalk. 

This  time  I  am  in  Richmond  as  the  guest  of  the 
coloured  people  of  the  city ;  and  came  at  their  request 
to  deliver  an  address  last  night  to  both  races  in  the 
Academy  of  Music,  the  largest  and  finest  audience 
room  in  the  city.  This  was  the  first  time  that  the 
coloured  people  had  ever  been  permitted  to  use  this 
hall.  The  day  before  I  came,  the  City  Council 
passed  a  vote  to  attend  the  meeting  in  a  body  to 
hear  me  speak.  The  state  Legislature,  including 
the  House  of  Delegates  and  the  Senate,  also 
passed  a  unanimous  vote  to  attend  in  a  body.  In 
the  presence  of  hundreds  of  coloured  people,  many 
distinguished  white  citizens,  the  City  Council,  the 
state  Legislature,  and  state  officials,  I  delivered  my 
message,  which  was  one  of  hope  and  cheer ;  and 
from  the  bottom  of  my  heart  I  thanked  both  races 
for  this  welcome  back  to  the  state  that  gave  me 
birth. 


Ind 


ex 


Abbott,  Dr.  Lyman,  230. 

Aberdeen,  Lady,  285. 

Abolitionists,  English,  2S4. 

Academy  of  Music,  Richmond,  ad- 
dress in,  319. 

Adams,  Lewis,  120,  121. 

Africa,  Negroes  missionaries  to,  16; 
Negro  cannot  improve  condition 
by  emigrating  to,  285;  students 
from,  at  Tuskegee  Institute,  313. 

Age-Herald,  the  Birmingham,  corre- 
spondence with  editor  of,  256. 

Agricultural  Building  at  Tuskegee, 
the  Slater-Armstrong,  302. 

Agriculture  in  Holland,  278. 

Alabama  Hall,  177-178. 

"  Aliens,"  effect   of,  on  Southerners, 

234-235- 

Amanda,  Washington's  sister,  5,  71. 

Ancestors,  of  Washington,  2;  disad- 
vantage of  having,  35,  39-40;  ad- 
vantage of  having,  36-37. 

Andrew,  Governor,  251. 

Anecdotes,  object  of  repeating,  in 
public  speaking,  243. 

Anthony,  Susan  B.,  2S5. 

Antwerp,  Belgium,  Washington  in, 
277. 

Armstrong,  General  Samuel  G,  54— 
57>  94>  97>  IQ6;  benefit  to  Wash- 
ington of  contact  with,  73;  helps 
Tuskegee  Institute  financially, 
146;  visits  Tuskegee,  55,  163, 
293-294;    death  of,   295. 

Atkinson,  Governor  G.  W.,  290,  291. 

3 


Atlanta,  Ga.,  Washington  addresses 
Christian  Workers  at,  204-205; 
address  at  opening  of  Interna- 
tional Exposition  at,  206,  210— 
225. 

Atlanta  Exposition,  the,  206;  Hamp- 
ton and  Tuskegee  represented  at, 
209;  Washington's  address,  210- 
225;  President  Cleveland  at,  227- 
228;   Washington  appointed  judge 

of,  233- 

Attucks,  Crispus,  254. 

Audience,  the  best,  245;  Washing- 
ton's largest,  253-254;  the  Eng- 
lish, 2S7. 

Auditorium,  Chicago,  Jubilee  ad- 
dresses in  the,  253-255. 

Authority,  respect  for,  among  Ne- 
groes, 168-169. 

Baldwin,  William  H.,  216. 

Ballot,  justice  to  Negro  concerning 

his,  235-237.      See  Franchise. 
"  Banking  and    discount  "   favourite 

study  among  Negroes,  122. 
Barrows,  Dr.  John  H.,  254. 
Baths,  at  Hampton,  58;   Negroes  in 

Maiden  taught  use  of,  75 ;   at  Tus- 
kegee, 175. 
Battle  at  Maiden  between  Negroes 

and  whites,  78. 
Bed-clothes,    lack    of,  at   Tuskegee, 

167-168. 
Bedford,  Rev.  Robert  C,   157-158, 

161. 


322 


INDEX 


Begging,  science  of,  180-181;  Wash- 
ington avoids,  182. 

Belgium,  trip  through,  278. 

Bell,  Alexander  Graham,  297. 

Benefits  of  slavery,  16-17. 

Bible,  use  and  value  of  the,  67. 

Bible  Training  School  at  Tuskegee, 
260,  312. 

Bicknell,  Hon.  Thomas  W.,  199. 

"  Big  house,"  the,  9. 

Biography,  Washington's  fondness 
for,  263. 

Birmingham,  England,  Washington 
visits,  284. 

Black  Belt  of  the  South,  299,  301 ; 
defined,  108. 

Blind,  Royal  College  for  the,  Com- 
mencement exercises  of  the,  285. 

"  Blue-back  "  spelling-book,  the,  27, 

31- 

Boarding  department  begun  at  Tus- 
kegee, 159-161;  growth  of,  177. 

Boggs,  E.  L.,  290. 

Book,  Washington's  first,  27. 

Boston,  money-raising  experiences 
in,  184-185;  dedication  of  Shaw 
Memorial  in,  249-253;  meeting 
in  Hollis  Street  Theatre  in,  270; 
first  meeting  of  National  Negro 
Business  League  in,  316. 

Boyhood  days,  Washington's,  23- 
42. 

Brickmaking  at  Tuskegee,  150-153. 

Bright,  John,  284. 

Bristol,  England,  Washington  speaks 
in,  284-285. 

Bruce,  Senator  B.  K.,  86,  89. 

Bruce,  Mrs.  B.  K.,  259. 

Brussels,  Washington  visits,  278. 

Bryce,  James,  283. 

Buffalo,  N.Y.,  address  before  Na- 
tional Educational  Association  in, 

317- 
Bullock,  Governor,  of  Georgia,  86, 
217,  241. 


Business    League,  National  Negro, 

316. 
Business  men  make  best  audiences, 

245- 

"Call    to    preach,"    prevalence    of, 

among  coloured  people,  82;   one 

old  Negro's,  128. 
Campbell,  George  W.,  120,  146. 
Canal-boat    trip    through    Holland, 

278. 
Cards,    Washington    not    fond    of, 

266. 
Carnegie,  Andrew,  190-192. 
Carney,  Sergeant  William  H.,  252, 

253- 
Carpetbaggers,  86. 
"  Cat -hole,"  the,  3. 
"  Cavalier  among   Roundheads,   a," 

240. 
Chapel,  donation   for,  at   Tuskegee, 

190  ;   President  McKinley  speaks 

in»  3°7-3°8- 
Charleston,  W.  Va.,  capital   moved 

to,  92  ;  reception  to  Washington 

in,  289-291. 
Chattanooga,  address  at,  248. 
Cheating  white  man,  the,  166,  237. 
Chicago,  University  of,  addresses  at, 

253-255- 

Choate,  Hon.  Joseph  H.,  283,  284. 

Christian  Endeavour  societies,  help 
of,  in  Tuskegee  work,  193  ;  ad- 
dresses before,  247. 

Christian  Endeavour  Society  at  Tus- 
kegee, 198. 

Christian  Union,  letter  from  Wash- 
ington in  the,  230. 

Christian  Workers,  Washington  ad- 
dresses meeting  of,  at  Atlanta, 
204-205. 

Christmas,  first,  at  Tuskegee,  133. 

Churches  burned  by  Ku  Klux  Klan, 
78. 

Civil  War,  the,  8,  10. 


INDEX 


323 


Clark,  Mr.  and  Mrs.,  of  Street,  Eng- 
land, 284. 

Cleanliness  the  first  law  at  Tuske- 
gee,  174-175. 

Clemens,  Samuel  L.,  284. 

Cleveland,  Grover,  letter  to  Wash- 
ington from,  227  ;  at  the  Atlanta 
Exposition,  227-228 ;  Washing- 
ton's opinion  of,  228. 

Clock,  young  Washington  and  the, 

32. 
Clocks  in  Negro  cabins,  113. 
Clothing,  barrels  of,  from  the  North, 

60. 
Coal-mining  in  West  Virginia,  38-39. 
Cobden,  Richard,  Washington  a  guest 

of  the  daughter  of,  284. 
College  men  third  best  audiences  to 

address,  247. 
Colour    prejudice,  228-229,  289  ;    at 

hotels,  47,  157. 
Coloured  Women's  Clubs,  National 

Federation  of,  268. 
Commencement,  at    Hampton,  94  ; 

of   Royal  College  for    the    Blind, 

London,  285  ;    at  Harvard,  295- 

302. 
"  Commercial  and    civil    relations," 

Washington    pleads    for    blotting 

out  of  race  prejudice  in,  256. 
Conference,       first       Negro,      315; 

Workers',  at  Tuskegee,  316. 
Connecticut,  Washington  first  visits, 

74- 
Corn,  parched,  used  for  coffee,  10. 
Corner-stone     of     first    building    at 

Tuskegee  laid,  143-144. 
Cotton    formerly    chief    product    at 

Tuskegee,  113. 
Cotton     States     Exposition.  See 

Atlanta  Exposition. 
Couch,  George  S.,  290. 
Courtesy      of      white       Southerners 

toward  Washington,  169-171. 
Courtney,  Dr.  Samuel  E.,  96. 


Cranks,  experiences    with,   256—258, 

264. 
"Credit  is  capital,"  146. 
Creelman,  James,  23S. 
Criticism  of  South,  place  for,  is  the 

South,  201. 
Crystal  Palace,  London,  Washington 

speaks  in  the,  2S5. 
Cuba,  students    from,  at   Tuskegee, 

3I3- 
Curry,  Hon.  J.  L.  M.,  194-195,  247, 

3°5- 

Davidson,  Miss  Olivia  A.,  124-126, 
131,  140,  141,  212;  marriage  to 
Washington,  19S  ;  death,  198- 
199. 

Dawson,  William  M.  O.,  290. 

Debating  societies  at  Hampton,  68. 

Debating  society  at  Maiden,  76. 

Degree,  Washington's  Harvard,  250, 
295-302. 

Devotional  exercises  at  Tuskegee, 
270. 

Dickinson,  John  Q.,  290. 

Dining  room,  first,  at  Tuskegee, 
159-161  ;  present,  162. 

Donald,  Rev.  E.  Winchester,  1 89- 
190. 

Donations,  first,  to  Tuskegee  Insti- 
tute, 131-132,  138  ;  for  new  build- 
ing at  Tuskegee,  140  ;  from  the 
North,  141-143  ;  many  that  are 
never  made  public,  1S2-183  ;  from 
gentleman  near  Stamford,  186- 
1S7;  any  philanthropic  work  must 
depend  mainly  on  small,  192-193. 

Douglass,  Frederick,  99-100,  284, 
288. 

Drunkenness      at    Christmas     time, 

I33-I34- 
Du  Bois,  Dr.  W.  E.  B.,  270. 
Dumb    animals,    Negroes'    kindness 

to,  2S2. 
Dunbar,  Paul  Lawrence,  270. 


324 


INDEX 


Education,  Washington's  theory  of, 

for  Negro,  203. 
Educational  Department  of  Atlanta 

Exposition,   Washington   a  judge 

of,  233. 
Educational  test  suggested  for  fran- 
chise, 84,  237. 
El  Caney,  black  regiments  at,  255. 
Eliot,   President   Charles    W.,    296, 

297,  298,  299. 
Emancipation    Proclamation,   5,  15, 

21. 
England,  Washington  in,  282-288. 
"Entitles,"  Negroes',  24,  123. 
Essex   Hall,   London,  Washington's 

address  in,  283. 
Europe,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Washington's 

visit  to,  262,  271-288. 
Examination,  a  "  sweeping,"  52, 163, 

281. 
Executive  council  at  Tuskegee,  259. 

Fame  a  weapon  for  doing  good,  296. 
Federation    of    Southern    Coloured 

Women's  Clubs,  268. 
Fiction,    Washington's    opinion    of, 

263. 
Fisk   University,    Miss   Margaret  J. 

Murray  a  graduate  of,  267. 
Five-minute    speech,  an    important, 

at  Atlanta,  204-205. 
Flax,  clothes  made  from,  II. 
Forbes,  John  M.,  251. 
"  Foreday  "  visits,  133. 
"  Foreigners,"     feeling     in      South 

toward,  234-235. 
Fort    Pillow,    coloured    soldiers    at, 

255- 
Fortress  Monroe,  Washington  works 

in  restaurant  at,  64-65. 
Fortune,  T.  Thomas,  316. 
Fort   Wagner,  coloured   soldiers  at, 

251,  252,  255. 
Foster,  Hon.  M.  F.,  194. 
Framingham,  Mass.,  Miss  Davidson 


student  at  Normal  School  at,  1 25; 
Portia  Washington  at,  274. 
Franchise,  property  or  educational 
test  suggested  for,  84 ;  same  law 
for  both  Negroes  and  whites  rec- 
ommended, 86-87 »  injury  to 
whites  of  depriving  Negro  of,  165- 
166  ;  belief  that  justice  will  be 
done   Negro    in   matter   of,  234- 

235- 
Franklin   County,  Va.,   Washington 

born  in,  1. 
Freedom,  granted  to   Negroes,    19— 

22  ;    interest  in,  in  England,  284. 
Friendship,  an   Englishman's,    287- 

288. 
Friesland,  voyage  on  the,  275. 
Frissell,  Dr.  Hollis  B.,  106,  295. 
"Frolic,"  the  Christmas,  135. 
Fuller,  Chief  Justice,  279. 
Future  of  Negro,  202. 

Gaines,  Bishop,  207. 

Games,  Washington's  lack  of  interest 

in,  266. 
Garrison,  Francis  J.,  271,  274,  283. 
Garrison,  William  Lloyd,  7,  284. 
Gilman,  Dr.  D.  C,  232-233. 
Ginger-cakes,  incident  of  the,  10. 
Gladstone,    Washington     compared 

to,  240. 
Graduates  of  Tuskegee  send  annual 

contributions,  193. 
Grady,  Henry,  238,  240. 
Grant,  Bishop,  207. 
"  Grape-vine  "  telegraph,  8,  19. 
Great    men,    education    of    contact 

with,  55. 
Greek    and    Latin    learning,    craze 

among  Negroes  for,  80,  81. 
Guitar  lesson,  story  of  the,  94. 

Hale's    Ford,   Washington's     birth- 
place, 1. 
Hampton      Institute,      Washington 


INDEX 


325 


first  hears  of,  42  ;  resolves  to  at- 
tend, 43  ;  journey  to,  46-50  ;  a 
student  at,  53-74  ;  John  and 
James  Washington  attend,  76-77; 
character-building  result  of  train- 
ing at,  87-88  ;  Washington  re- 
visits, 94-95 ;  Washington  returns 
as  a  teacher,  97  ;  represented  at 
Atlanta  Exposition,  209  ;  under 
Dr.  Frissell,  295. 

Hare,  Charles  W.,  304. 

Harlan,  Justice,  279. 

Harper,  President  William  R.,  253. 

Harrison,  Benjamin,  279. 

Harvard,  Washington's  honorary 
degree  from,  250,  295-302. 

Hat,  Washington's  first,  33. 

Hemenway,  Mrs.  Mary,  125. 

Herford,  Dr.  Brooke,  283. 

Higginson,  Henry  L.,  272. 

Hirsch,  Rabbi  Emil  G.,  254. 

Hodnett,  Father  Thomas  P.,  254. 

Holland,  Washington's  trip  through, 
277-278. 

Hollis  Street  Theatre,  Boston,  meet- 
ing in,  270. 

Holstein  cattle  in  Holland,  278. 

"Honour  roll"  at  Hampton,  73. 

Hotel,  Washington  refused  admit- 
tance to,  47  ;  no  trouble  at,  in 
Northampton,  Mass.,  157. 

"  House  father,"  Washington  as,  to 
Indians  at  Hampton,  97-98. 

House  of  Commons,  visit  to  the, 
285. 

Howell,  Albert,  Jr.,  217. 

Howell,  Clark,  225-226,  239. 

Huntington,  Collis  P.,  188-189. 

Indians  at  Hampton,  97-99. 

Industrial  departments  at  Tuskegee 
Institute,  311. 

Industrial  education,  value  of,  126- 
127,  154-156;  growth  of  belief  in 
worth  Of,  166;    importance  of,  im- 


pressed on  Negroes  in  addresses, 
206;  advantages  of,  dwelt  on  in 
Atlanta  Exposition  address,  218- 
220;  at  present  time  at  Tuskegee, 
312.     See  Labour. 

International  Congress  of  Women  in 
London,  285. 

International  Exposition.  See  Atlanta 
Exposition. 

Intoxication,  prevalence  of,  at  Christ- 
mas time,  133-134. 

Ireland,  Archbishop,  279. 

Iroquois  Hotel,  Buffalo,  public  levee 
in,  317. 

Jackson,  Andrew,  254. 

Jamaica,  students  from,  at  Tuskegee, 

3*3- 

Janitor,  Washington  installed  as,  at 

Hampton,  53. 
Jesup,  Morris  K.,  194-195,  247. 
John  F.  Slater  Fund,  the,  194,  195, 

247. 
Jubilee    exercises    in    Atlanta,    303, 

3°4- 
Jubilee  week  in  Chicago,  253-256. 

Kilns,  difficulty  in  making,  151-152. 
Ku  Klux  Klan,  the,  77-79. 

Labour,  in  ante-bellum  days  badge 
of  degradation  in  South,  17;  dig- 
nity of,  72-74,  148;  coloured  min- 
ister claims  that  God  has  cursed 
all,  135;  new  students  at  Tuske- 
gee object  to  manual,  155-156; 
means  of  avoiding  troubles  sug- 
gested, 172.  See  Industrial  Edu- 
cation. 

La  Follette,  L.  M.,  290. 

Laidley,  George  S.,  291. 

Lawrence,  Bishop  William,  270,  298. 

Lee,  Colonel  Henry,  251. 

Letter,  from  Miss  Mary  F.  Mackie, 
72;   from  Alabama  men  to  Gen- 


326 


INDEX 


eral  Armstrong,  106-107;  *°  An- 
drew Carnegie,  191-192;  from 
President  Cleveland,  227;  from 
Dr.  D.  C.  Gilman,  233;  from  Baker 
T.  Washington,  269;  from  citizens 
of  Charleston,  W.  Va.,  289,  290; 
from  President  Eliot,  295-296; 
from  John  Addison  Porter,  310. 

Library,  Washington's  first,  45 ;  first, 
at  Tuskegee,  190;  funds  for  new, 
supplied  by  Andrew  Carnegie,  191- 
192;  on  the  St.  Louis,  288. 

Lieutenant-governor,     a      coloured, 

85- 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  Washington's 
mother  prays  for,  7;  mentioned, 
8,  309;  Washington's  patron  saint 
in  literature,  263. 

Live  stock,  fine  breeds  at  Hampton, 
66;  first,  at  Tuskegee,  139;  Wash- 
ington's individual,  265;  in  Hol- 
land, 278. 

Lodge,  Henry  Cabot,  299. 

Logan,  Warren,  158-159,  259. 

London,  Washington  visits,  282— 
288. 

Long,  John  D.,  308-309. 

Lord,  Miss  Nathalie,  67. 

Louisiana  State  Constitutional  Con- 
vention, letter  on  lynching  to  the, 
318. 

Lovejoy,  Elijah  P.,  7. 

Lumber  supplied  on  strength  of 
Washington's  word,  140. 

Luxembourg  Palace,  American  Ne- 
gro's painting  in,  280. 

Lynching,  Washington  writes  open 
letter  on,  318. 

MacCorkle,  ex-Governor  W.  A.,  290, 

291. 
Mackie,  Miss  Mary  F.,  53,  54,  72, 

163. 
McKinley,   President,    181 ;    at    the 

Auditorium  meeting,  Chicago,  254; 


Washington's  interviews  with,  303- 
305;  visits  Tuskegee,  306-310. 

Macon  County,  Ala.,  Tuskegee 
county-seat  of,   121. 

McWhorter,  L.  E.,  291. 

Madison,  Wis.,  Washington  begins 
public-speaking  career  at,  199, 
242. 

Mail-carrier  as  disseminator  of  news 
among  slaves,  9. 

Maiden,  W.  Va.,  Washington's  rela- 
tives move  to,  24-25 ;  Washington 
revisits,  68;  teaches  school  at,  75; 
Ku  Klux  Klan  at,  77-78. 

Mark  Twain,  284. 

"Mars'  Billy,"  death  of,  12-13. 

Marshall,  Edward,  275,  278. 

Marshall,  General  J.  B.  F.,  66,  129, 
163. 

Master  of  Arts,  Washington  made  a, 
298. 

"  Masters  "  in  England,  286. 

Mattress-making  at  Tuskegee,  173. 

Meals,  in  slave  quarters,  9;  among 
Negroes  in  early  days  at  Tuske- 
gee, 112-115;  trials  in  connection 
with,  in  boarding  department, 
160-161;  schedule  of,  at  present, 
at  Tuskegee,  314. 

Memorial  Hall,  Harvard,  Washing- 
ton's speech  in,  299-301. 

Memphis,  yellow-fever  epidemic  at, 
124. 

Middle  passage,  the,  2. 

Miles,  General  Nelson  A.,  297,  299, 
300. 

Ministers,  over-supply  among  Ne- 
groes, 82-83;  improvement  in 
character  of  Negro,  232. 

Missionaries,  Negroes  as,  16. 

Missionary  organization,  officer  of  a, 
discourages  Washington's  efforts, 
156-157. 

"  Mister,"  calling  a  Negro,  247. 

"  Mistresses  "  in  England,  286. 


INDEX 


327 


Molasses,  black,  substitute  for  sugar, 

io;    from  the  "big  house,"  245- 

246. 
Montgomery,  Ala.,  Rev.  Robert  C. 

Bedford  pastor  in,  157. 
Morgan,  S.  Griffitts,  59. 
Morocco,  anecdote  of  the  citizen  of, 

103. 
Moses,  Washington  termed  a  Negro, 

238. 
Mothers'  meeting  in  Tuskegee,  267, 

3*5- 

Murray,  Miss  Margaret  J.,  267-26S. 
Music  Hall,  Boston,  address  in,  250- 

253- 
Music    Hall,    Buffalo,    addresses    in, 

3'7- 

Name,  Washington  chooses  his  own, 

34- 

Names,  emancipated  Negroes 
change,  23-24;  of  Tuskegee  stu- 
dents, 123. 

National  Educational  Association, 
speech  at  meeting  of,  in  Madison, 
Wis.,  199,  242;  address  before,  in 
Buffalo,  317. 

National  Federation  of  Coloured 
Women's  Clubs,  268. 

National  Negro  Business  League, 
316. 

Negro  Building  at  Atlanta  Exposi- 
tion, 208-209;  President  Cleve- 
land visits,  227-228. 

Negro  Conference,  first,  315. 

Nelson,  Bishop,  of  Georgia,  217. 

New  Orleans,  reception  to  Washing- 
ton in,  292. 

Newspapers,  quoted,  226,  238-241, 
250-256,300-302,317;  Washing- 
ton's delight  in,  263. 

New  York,  a  rebuff  in,  156-157;  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Washington  sail  from, 
275. 

Night-gown,  lessons  in  use  of,  1 76. 


Night-school,  started  in  Maiden,  30; 
Washington  attends,  in  Maiden, 
37;  Washington  opens,  in  Maiden, 
75;  established  at  Hampton,  104- 
105;    at  Tuskegee,  196-197. 

Nobility,  respect  for  the,  in  England, 
287. ' 

North,  the,  Miss  Davidson  solicits 
funds  in,  141 ;  Washington  and 
Miss  Davidson  again  visit,  156- 
157;  General  Armstrong  takes 
Washington  to,  with  quartette, 
178-180;  later  addresses  in,  206. 
See  Boston. 

Northampton,  Mass.,  Washington  at, 

'57- 
Novels,  Washington  forces   himself 
to  read,  263. 

Odell,  Hon.  Benjamin  B.,  Jr.,  289. 

Opera  House,  Charleston,  W.  Va., 
reception  to  Washington  in  the, 
291. 

Organ,  Negro  family  own  a  sixty- 
dollar,  113. 

Page,  Thomas  Nelson,  233. 
Painting,      American      Negro's,     in 

Luxembourg  Palace,  280. 
Paris,  Washington's    visit    to,   278- 

282. 
Parliament,  Washington  visits,  285. 
*'  Patrollers,"  the,  77-78. 
Payne,  Charles  K.,  291. 
Peabody  Fund,  the,  194,  195. 
Peace  Conference,  the,  278. 
Penn,  I.  Garland,  209. 
Phelps  Hall  Bible  Training  School, 

260,  312. 
Philanthropy,  English,  287. 
Pig,  Washington's  favourite  animal, 

265. 
Pinchback,  Governor,  86. 
"  Pine-knot  torchlight  reception,"  a, 

294. 


328 


INDEX 


Plantation  work,  Mrs.  Washington's 

course  in,  267,  315. 
"  Plucky  Class,"  the,  105. 
Political  life,  allurements  of,  85. 
Politics  in  early  days  at  Tuskegee, 

IIO-III. 

Poor  whites,  26. 

Porter,  A.  H.,  142. 

Porter,  General  Horace,  279,  280. 

Porter  Hall,  142 ;  first  service  in 
chapel  of,  157. 

Porter,  John  Addison,  303,  310. 

Port  Hudson,  Negro  soldiers  at,  255. 

Porto  Rico,  students  from,  at  Tuske- 
gee, 313. 

Post-graduate  address  at  Hampton, 
94. 

Potato-hole,  the,  4. 

Prichard,  Mr.  L.,  290. 

Property  test  suggested  for  franchise, 
84,  237. 

Providence,  R.I.,  a  lucky  morning 
in,  189. 

Public  speaking,  emptiness  of  mere 
abstract,  67  ;  Washington's  first 
practice  in,  92 ;  in  conjunction 
with  General  Armstrong  in  the 
North,  180;  "An  idea  for  every 
word,"    180 ;      career    begins    at 

-  Madison,  Wis.,  199 ;  secret  of 
success  in,  238-256. 

Quartette,  Washington  and  the 
Hampton,  in  the  North,  1 78-180. 

Queen, .  the,  Washington  takes  tea 
with,  285. 

Quincy,  Hon.  Josiah,  251. 

Race  feeling  in  America,  289. 

Race  riots  in  the  South,  304. 

Reading,  Washington's  tastes  in, 
263. 

Reading-room,  established  at  Mai- 
den, 76  ;   first,  at  Tuskegee,  190. 

Reconstruction  period,  80-91. 


Reid,  Ed.,  291. 

Reliability  of  slaves,  13,  14,  15,  19. 

Richmond,  Va.,  Washington's  first 
experiences  in,  48-50;  meets  Dr. 
Curry  in,  194-195;  guest  of  the 
coloured  people  of,  318-319. 

Rich  people,  necessity  for,  in  the 
world,  182;  business  methods  es- 
sential in  dealing  with,  192. 

Rockefeller,  John  D.,  297. 

Rotterdam,  Washington  visits,  278. 

Royal  College  for  the  Blind,  Com- 
mencement exercises  of  the,  285. 

Ruffner,  General  Lewis,  43,  78. 

Ruffner,  Mrs.  Viola,  43-45,  71. 

St.  Gaudens,  Augustus,  251. 

St.  Louis,  gift  of  a  library  by  citizens 
of,  288. 

St.  Louis,  voyage  in  the,  288. 

Salt-mining  in  West  Virginia,  25-26. 

Sanders  Theatre,  Commencement 
exercises  in,  297-298. 

Santiago,  black  regiments  at,  255. 

Savage,  Rev.  Minot  J.,  297,  299. 

School,  Washington  as  a  boy  escorts 
white  children  to,  6-7;  first,  for 
Negroes,  29;  night,  started,  30; 
Washington  first  attends,  31;  at 
Hampton,  see  Hampton;  Wash- 
ington teaches,  at  Maiden,  75; 
opened  at  Tuskegee,  106-110, 119. 
See  Night-school. 

Schoolhouses  burned,  78. 

Scott,  Emmett  J.,  259,  274. 

Servants  in  England,  286. 

Sewell,  Senator,  275,  277. 

Sewing-machines  at  Tuskegee,  113. 

Shafter,  General,  306. 

Shaw  Memorial,  address  at  dedica- 
tion of,  249-253. 

Shaw,  Robert  Gould,  249-250. 

Sheets,  Washington's  first  experience 
with,  60-61 ;  lessons  in  use  of,  at 
Tuskegee  Institute,  175-176. 


INDEX 


329 


Shirt,  flax,  II,  12. 

Shoes,  Washington's  first  pair  of,  II. 

Sidewalk,  Washington  sleeps  under 
a,  in  Richmond,  49. 

Slater-Armstrong  Agricultural  Build- 
ing, 302. 

Slavery,  benefits  of,  16-17. 

Slaves,  quarters  of,  2-5;  attitude  of, 
during  Civil  War,  12-14;  freed, 
19-22. 

Slave  ship,  2. 

Smith,  Miss  Fannie  N.,  146-147. 

Smith,  Postmaster-General,  309. 

Smith,  W.  Herman,  289. 

Snuff-dipping,  115. 

"  Social  recognition  "  never  discussed 
by  Washington,  256. 

"  Soul  "  necessary  to  success  in  pub- 
lic speaking,  244. 

Spanish-American  War,  Negroes  in, 

255- 
Stafford  House,  London,  a  reception 

at,  287-2SS. 
Stage-coach  travel,  46,  47. 
Stamford,     Conn.,    generous    donor 

from,   186-187. 
Stanley,  Sir  Henry  M.,  285. 
Stanton,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Cady,  279. 
Stanton,  Theodore,  278. 
Story,    effect    of    telling,    in    public 

speaking,   243;   the  humorous,  in 

England,   287. 
Strike  of  coal-miners,  68-69. 
Strikes,  means  of  avoiding,  172. 
Sturge,  Joseph,  2S4. 
Suffrage.     See  Franchise. 
Sutherland,   Duke  and  Duchess  of, 

287-288. 
"  Sweeping  "  examination,  a,  52, 163, 

281. 

Taliaferro,  Washington's  name  origi- 
nally, 35. 
Tanner,  Henry  O.,  280-281. 
"Teacher's  day,"  29. 


Ten-dollar  bill,  incident  of  finding 
a,  65. 

Tents  used  as  dormitories,  57. 

Texas,  travelling  in,  169. 

Thanksgiving  service,  first,  at  Tus- 
kegee,  157-158. 

"  The  Force  That  Wins,"  94. 

The  Hague,  visit  to,  278. 

Thompson,  Mrs.  Joseph,  217,  239. 

Thompson,  Hon.  Waddy,  144. 

"  Three  cheers  to  Booker  T.  Wash- 
ington !  "  in  Boston,  252. 

Times,  Xew  York,  quoted,  302. 

Tillies- Her  aid,  Chicago,  quoted, 
254-255. 

Tooth-brush,  gospel  of  the,  75,  174- 

175- 
Transcript,    Boston,    quoted,    226, 

250-252. 
Trotter,  J.  R.,  290. 
Trust,  slaves  true  to  a,   13,  14,   15, 

19- 

Tuition,  cost  of,  at  Hampton,  59  ; 
in  night-school  at  Hampton,  104; 
at  Tuskegee,  167;  in  night-school 
at  Tuskegee,  196-197. 

Tuskegee,  Washington  first  goes  to, 
107;  acquisition  of  present  site  of 
school,  12S-130;  General  Arm- 
strong at,  55,  163,  293-294;  rep- 
resented at  the  Atlanta  Exposition, 
209;  executive  force  of  the  Insti- 
tute, 258-259;  President  McKin- 
ley  and  Cabinet  at,  306-310. 

Umbrella,  Dr.  Donald  and  the,  190. 
University  Club  of  Paris,  Washington 

a  guest  at  the,  279. 
University    of     Chicago    addresses, 

Washington's,  253-255. 
Unwin,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  T.  Fisher,  2S4. 

Vacation,  at  Hampton,  63,  6S;  the 
first  in  nineteen  years,  262,  273. 
See  Europe. 


33° 


INDEX 


Vessel,  Washington  helps  unload,  in 

Richmond,  49. 
Victoria,  Queen,  285. 
Vincent,  Bishop  John  H.,  297. 
Virtue  of  Negro  women,  249. 

Wagon-making  at  Tuskegee,  154. 

Washington,  D.C.,  author  a  student 
in,  87-91 ;  visits,  in  interests  of 
Atlanta  Exposition,  207-208 ; 
talks  with  President  McKinley  in, 

3°3-305- 
Washington,  Baker  Taliaferro,  199, 

264,  268-269. 
Washington,   Booker  T.,  father   of, 

2-3  ;   mother  of,  2-4,  21,  27,  28, 

3l>  33.  45»  7°;    sister  of,  5,  71 ; 

stepfather  of,  24,  26,  30. 
Washington,    Mrs.    Booker   T.     See 

Smith,  Miss  Fannie  N.,  Davidson, 

Miss  Olivia  A.,  and  Murray,  Miss 

Margaret  J. 
Washington,  Ernest  Davidson,  199, 

264,  269. 
Washington,  George,  101-102,  309. 
Washington,  James  B.,  37,  77. 
Washington,  John,  5,  12,  59,  68,  70, 

71,  76. 
Washington,   Portia    M.,    147,   264, 

268. 


Watch,  Washington  pawns  his,  152. 

Waterloo,  a  visit  to  battlefield  of, 
278. 

Watkins,  Rev.  Mr.,  of  Buffalo,  317. 

Westminster,  Duke  of,  285. 

West  Virginia,  Washington  can- 
vasses in  interests  of  Charleston 
for  capital,  93. 

Wheeler,  General  Joseph,  306. 

Wheeling,  W.  Va.,  capital  moved 
from,  93. 

Whittier,  James  G.,  284. 

Wilson,  ex-Governor  E.  W.,  290. 

Wilson,  Hon.  James,  302. 

Windsor  Castle,  visit  to,  285. 

Wolcott,  Roger,  250-252,  298,  299. 

Woman's  club  at  Tuskegee  Institute, 
268. 

Women,  virtue  of  Negro,  249  ;  In- 
ternational Congress  of,  285. 

Women's  Liberal  Club  of  Bristol, 
England,  285. 

Work,  outline  of  daily,  at  Tuskegee, 

3H- 
Workers'  Conference,  316. 
World,  New  York,  quoted,  238-241. 
Worrying,  necessity  of  avoiding,  1 81. 

Young  Men's  Christian  Association 
at  Tuskegee,  198. 


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